NEW DELHI South African opener Laura Wolvaardt smashed a 45-ball 57 and Ashleigh Gardner remained unbeaten on 51 as Gujarat Giants made a fighting 147 for 4 in their Women's Premier League (WPL) match against Deli Capitals at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
India's Harleen Deol scored 31 for the Giants, who were put into bat after Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning won the toss.
Marizanne Kapp, who had grabbed a five-for the last time the two clashed with DC winning by a 10-wicket margin, got just one wicket, while Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/38) was the other successful bowler.
Playing her third game of the series, the right-handed South African batter Wolvaardt brought up her maiden half-century of the tournament but not before struggling in the initial phases for timing and placement.
Wolvaardt was dismissed by Arundhati Reddy (3-0-25-1) in the penultimate over of Gujarat Giants' innings, finishing on 57 from 45 balls, studded with six fours and one six.
On the other hand, Gardner did well to smack nine fours to remain unbeaten on 51 from 33 balls.
After a sedate first half, Gujarat Giants turned tables on Delhi Capitals by garnering another 94 runs in the last 10 overs, with 53 runs coming off in the final 30 balls.
With Wolvaardt not in rhythm initially, Gardner took up the initiative to atack and got a couple of consecutive fours off Shikha Pandey in the 13th over to launch Gujarat's strong recovery.
Marizanne Kapp (4-0-24-1) once again produced an early wicket, getting Dunkley caught at mid-on by Jess Jonassen.
The South African pacer's opening spell was once again impactful, one that did not allow the Gujarat Giants settle down until she was taken off.
With the odd-ball keeping low and surprising the batters initially, the pair of Deol and Wolvaardt did well to rotate the strike even though they did not hit as many fours as they would have liked in the first half of the innings.
The second-wicket partnership which kept Gujarat Giants steady, if not ahead in the game, but was broken in the 10th over with Deol being caught behind by Taniya Bhatia off Jonassen, who finished at 4-0-38-2.
Deol and Wolvaardt had consumed 53 balls to add 49 runs for the second wicket, as Gujarat Giants crawled to 53/2 after the first 10 overs, who managed just six fours in that period.
The right-handed Indian batter, who has been one of the major contributors with the bat for the Giants this season, walked back after accumulating a 33-ball 31 consisting four hits to the fence.
(With PTI inputs)
