Women's Premier League franchise Gujarat Giants (GG) have roped in South African cricketer Laura Wolvaardt as a replacement for their captain Beth Mooney who sustained an injury in the tournament opener against Mumbai Indians.
The news has been confirmed in a report carried by Cricbuzz who have reported that Wolvaardt is still in Pakistan after she played in the first match of the PCB's Women's League exhibition fixtures. The same report suggests that the Protean cricketer is likely to join the franchise for the team's next match on March 11 (Saturday) against the Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, it is also being reported that Wolvaardt has been released by her team in the PCB's Women League exhibition fixtures Super Women with her South African teammate Sune Luus set tom replace her in that competition. Wolvaardt, much like Mooney, bats up the order and has featured in 53 T20Is in which she has scored 1079 runs at an average of 30.82.
For the unversed Mooney, who was named the captain of the team before the start of the season, picked up a knee injury in the competition opener. Giants needed a mammoth 208 runs to win but suffered an early blow with the Australian wicketkeeper-batter seemingly hurting her knee.
She was visibly in pain and forced to retire hurt after which the side completely lost track and went on to get bowled out for a metre 64. Part of Australia's recent T20 World Cup triumph, the 29-year-old is unlikely to play any further part in the competition. She was picked by the team for INR 2 crore at the Players' Auction ahead of the start of the season.
In her absence vice-captain Sneh Raha has led the team and after a loss againsg UP Warriorz in their second match, Rana-led GG managed to taste their first in the competition against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday. She could well lead the franchise for the remainder of the season.