The 27-year-old Ashleigh Gardner has slammed the fourth WPL fifty during the clash against UP Warriorz played on February 16 at Kotambi Stadium.
Gardner has been batting steadily after the dismissal of the top order batters Laura Wolvaardt, Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalatha.
Ashleigh Gardner hit back-to-back fifties in the WPL and completed her fifty off 27 deliveries. Ahead of the match, Gardner had 403 WPL runs in 17 matches at an average of 26.86 and 19 wickets.
Gujarat Giants who came to chase the target of 144 runs during the WPL 2025 clash against UP Warriorz, suffered a major blow after Beth Mooney was sent back to Pavilion on a golden duck.
Laura Wolvaardt and Dayalan Hemalatha opened the innings for the side where Mooney was sent out on the fourth ball of the first over by Grace Harris. Dayalan Hemalatha who came to bat, has been sent out on a duck by Sophie Ecclestone.
As a result, Gujarat Giants lost two wickets for 2 runs. After Hemalatha went on back to pavilion, Ashleigh Gardner came to back and tried to forge a partnership with South Africa Cricketer Laura Wolvaardt where they scored 55 runs.
After the dismissal of Wolvaardt, Garnder joined Harleen Deol to haunt UPW bowlers.
🔙 to 🔙 FIFTIES 🔥
Skipper Ash Gardner picks up right where she left off 🔥
Will she guide #GG home tonight? 🤔
Updates ▶ https://t.co/KpTdz5nl8D#TATAWPL | #GGvUPW | @Giant_Cricket pic.twitter.com/ZtYLOZ6i56
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 16, 2025
UP Warriorz was set up to bat after Gujarat Giants women opted to bowl. Aiming for a fiery start, Deepti Sharma-led UP Warriorz lost two wickets to score 41 runs in the powerplay.
They lost both openers Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh for 15 and 6 by Deandra Dottin and Ashleigh Gardner respectively.
Navgire who aimed for a jumpstart punched 15 runs off 8 deliveries before being sent out on lbw in the last ball of the second over.
After their dismissals, Uma Chetry and captain Deepti Sharma came to bat where they managed to scored 41 runs in the power play.
With contributions from the pair Uma Chetry and Deepti Sharma, and low order batters Shweta Sehrawat, Alana King and Saima Thakor, UP Warriorz were able to drag their score to 143 runs.
Priya Mishra who shocked the the batting team, picked three wickets in her four over quota while Deandra Dottin and Ashleigh Gardner picked two wickets each and Kashveee Gautam picked a wicket to restrict Warriorz for a reasonable total.
