Giants' Promising Season Ends in Eliminator Amid Trial and Error Approach

Gujarat Giants' Season Ends in WPL 2025 Eliminator After Costly Errors

The Gujarat Giants' (GG) campaign in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 came to a disappointing end as they were defeated by the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 47 runs in the Eliminator. A series of fielding lapses and poor running between the wickets proved costly for the Giants, with head coach Michael Klinger summing it up as, "probably minus 20 to us [for the lapses] and plus 20 to them."

Early Setback with Dottin’s Injury

The Giants suffered a major blow even before the first ball was bowled, as star allrounder Deandra Dottin was ruled out minutes before the toss due to a knee tendon injury. Dottin experienced discomfort during the warm-up and, despite a brief attempt to return to the field, was unable to continue. Expressing his disappointment, Klinger explained, "We tried to give her another opportunity to come out and see if she could [play], but she felt pain again and realized she wasn't going to make it."

Danny Gibson was brought in as a replacement and delivered a commendable performance. Still, Klinger's acknowledgment was clear: "Deandra is a fantastic player and an impact player, so there's no doubt when she doesn’t play last minute, you lose a little bit."

Tactical Misjudgment at the Toss

Opting to bowl first, the Giants aimed to capitalize on dew conditions. While they initially restricted MI to 37 for 1 in the powerplay, a 133-run partnership between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews swung the game decisively in MI's favor. Gujarat's struggles in the field, including dropping four catches and misfielding numerous times, contributed to Mumbai's imposing total of 213.

Reflecting on the decision, Klinger admitted, "We may have actually misread the conditions slightly... But tosses in T20 cricket don't win you games." He added that defending a 200-plus total under pressure ultimately derailed their chase.

Fielding and Running Woes

Mumbai’s sharp fielding proved pivotal, with Matthews setting the tone by dismissing Beth Mooney in the opening over. MI capitalized on every run-out opportunity, completing three decisive dismissals. In contrast, GG’s fielding errors and multiple run-outs, including those of Harleen Deol, Gibson, and Kashvee Gautam, compounded their woes.

"Yeah, our fielding wasn't great tonight. That was obvious for most to see," Klinger admitted. "I thought there was about a 40-run swing there. We lost by 47 runs, and sometimes that can be the big difference."

What Could Have Been

Klinger acknowledged that the outcome might have been different had they made better decisions at the toss, had Dottin been fit, or had they held onto their catches and avoided costly run-outs.

"A few run-outs in a run chase isn't ideal, and we had to get a lot of things right in that chase, and it didn’t quite happen," Klinger concluded.

Despite their exit, the Giants will reflect on a season of promise, learning valuable lessons from a campaign that ended in trial and error.