Laura Wolvaardt smashes her career-best WPL score: Key stats
What's the story
Laura Wolvaardt played a match-winning knock for Gujarat Giants as they claimed their first win of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) season.
Wolvaardt smashed 76(45) as the Giants successfully defended 199. She added 140 runs for the opening wicket along with Beth Mooney.
The former registered her career-best score in India's premier T20 tournament for women.
Here are the key stats.
Knock
Wolvaardt rules in first 10 overs
Wolvaardt was GG's star in the first 10 overs, completing a blazing half-century.
She smashed 32 off 22 balls in the Powerplay as the Giants were 59/0 after six overs.
An unfortunate run-out ended Wolvaardt's stay in the 13th over. She slammed a 45-ball 76 (13 fours).
The South African batter recorded her third half-century in the WPL. She registered her career-best WPL score.
Information
Wolvaardt's career-best WPL knock
It was the first instance of Wolvaardt scoring over 70 runs in a WPL match. Her previous-best score in the tournament came against RCB Women in Brabourne last season. She smashed 68 in that encounter.
Partnership
Second-highest partnership in WPL
Wolvaardt added 140 runs for the opening wicket along with Mooney. This is now the second-highest partnership in WPL history.
They are only behind Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning, who shared a 162-run opening stand for DCW against RCBW last season.
These are the only two 140+ partnerships in the tournament. DP Vaidya and Healy (139* vs UPW, 2023) are next on the list.
Match
GG beat RCB by 19 runs
Wolvaardt and Mooney breathed fire after GG elected to bat. They propelled GG past 100.
However, two back-to-back run-outs dismissed Wolvaardt and Phoebe Litchfield. GG's last four wickets fell for six runs (199/5).
RCB had a fluent start but lost Smriti Mandhana, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sophie Devine, and Ellyse Perry before 100.
Although Richa Ghosh and Georgia Wareham inspired hope, RCB fell 19 runs short.