UP Warriorz Opt to Bowl First Against Gujarat Giants in Crucial WPL Clash

Three successive losses have taken the Gujarat Giants to last place, while their opponents, UP Warriorz, have moved up with back-to-back wins over the Mumbai Indians.

"We are going to bowl. If we can put Gujarat under some pressure early. It's a bit dewy already. We had a couple of days off, you know, straight after our last game, which was nice because it was a pretty hectic period. So back into training the last couple of days, the group's really focused. We've got tonight's game, they're pretty high stakes so we need to play well and put out our best performance," UPW skipper Meg Lanning said

"Assessing the conditions is really important anywhere you go. Perhaps not as much bounce here as there was in Navi Mumbai, we're on a new wicket today. So we need to assess what the best way to go about it is, firstly with the ball and then chase it later on. Same team for us," she added.

GG skipper Ash Gardner said they would have also liked to bowl first.

"If we look at the three games at the start of our tournament when we almost scored 200 in every game batting first, we obviously have to take a lot of confidence out of that. Obviously different venue, so that poses a different challenge. Hopefully we can set the tone really early here. You probably have to play a lot straighter for longer. That seems really simple, but I think also being able to invest a couple of balls at the start of your innings is super important," she said.

"At these grounds, obviously the outfields are so fast and quick that you can always catch up. So even if you feel like you're behind eight balls, it certainly doesn't take too many shots to kind of get back in front. So, I guess for us, trying to be really clinical in our decision-making, which over the last couple of games, maybe we haven't done. But I think yeah, it's a real positive tonight that we can try and go out there and set the tone early," she added.

She said the team has three games left in the group stage. "We obviously want to win three as well. I think, if we can just focus on the positives for us, there's obviously been a lot of chat around that and it's almost like restarting our tournament now with the teams that we play...it's almost like forgetting, I guess, the top of the ladder and just focusing on what I guess we can control and that's playing really good cricket and then hopefully putting some wins on the board. Danni Wyatt comes in for Georgia Wareham," the GG skipper said.

Teams:

Gujarat Giants Women (Playing XI): Beth Mooney(w), Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kanika Ahuja, Ashleigh Gardner(c), Kashvee Gautam, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwer, Renuka Singh Thakur, Happy Kumari.

UP Warriorz Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Kiran Navgire, Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Chloe Tryon, Shweta Sehrawat(w), Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana Joy, Shikha Pandey, Kranti Gaud.

- ANI