The first game of the doubleheader Saturday between UP Warriorz and the Gujarat Giants was an absolute runfest. With over 400 runs being scored, it was always going to be a moment of brilliance on a good batting pitch that would likely impact the outcome of the game.
In the end, that’s exactly what happened. Have a read!
🙏 “Devine” intervention saves Gujarat Giants
UP Warriorz’s chase hinged on one simple template: get either Meg Lanning or Phoebe Litchfield to bat deep. Both have vast amounts of T20 experience, consistently bat at the top of the order worldwide, and get better as the innings progresses.
Lanning’s strike rate climbs from 110 in the powerplay to 145 in the middle overs and 175 by the death since 2023. Litchfield mirrors that pattern but goes even harder at the end, striking at 187 in the final five overs.
Even if you have a look at Litchfield’s various innings progression plots, she clearly is an increasing danger as you go deeper into the innings.
Lanning looked comfortable today, cruising to 30 off 27, content to knock it around and settle in. When she was dismissed, the responsibility fell squarely on Litchfield’s shoulders. If UP Warriorz were going to chase this down, Litchfield had to bat through.
And for a while, it looked inevitable that she would.
Litchfield was in ridiculous form. Her usual balls-per-boundary ratio is an excellent 4.79. Today, she bettered it—getting a boundary every three deliveries!
Her non-boundary strike rate is typically one of her weaker areas at just 59, among the lowest of her batting peers. But today, she ran hard and often, lifting her NBSR to 61.5. A small difference, but a clear sign of intent to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The chase was alive. Litchfield was motoring. Gujarat Giants needed something special.
Enter Sophie Devine.
Devine was brought back for her third over in the 16th, and she hadn’t looked her best. But experience is always something you fall back on.
The over started normally. Litchfield got off strike. Deandra Dottin smashed the required boundary and gave Litchfield the strike back. Then came a masterclass in game awareness from one of the legends of the game.
15.3: Devine came over the wicket, spearing it into the blockhole outside off. Litchfield, rather ambitiously, tried to reverse-lap it. Made no contact.
Devine made two changes:
- First, she switched to around the wicket to cramp Litchfield for room.
- Second, she moved her long-off fielder to an almost deep extra-cover position—a wide-ish long-off—enticing Litchfield to hit over mid-off or go even wider through cover to find the boundary (see picture).
15.4: Devine angled it in, full on middle stump. Litchfield backed away, trying to go inside-out and manufacture room for herself. She laced it beautifully—but hit it too close to wide long-off. Bharti Fulmali settled under it and did the rest.
A small but brilliant piece of strategy and execution from Devine. She played with Litchfield’s mind, forced her to rethink her scoring options, and delivered the knockout blow.
In a chase where Litchfield was cruising and the batters around her were finding rhythm, it was going to take a moment of brilliance to tilt the game in Gujarat Giants’ favour. That’s exactly what Sophie Devine’s experience delivered.
Data from Women’s T20 Batting App using Himanish Ganjoo’s T20 cricket BBB database up until October 2025 & Cricket By JB’s WPL analyses.
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