It was another bitter end to what felt like a battle of extremes as RCB Women fell short of the finish line by a meagre 11 runs in a pulsating encounter against the Gujarat Giants. The bowlers had another day off in the field as they were all over the place, being smacked around by the Giants bowlers despite claiming wickets at regular intervals.
The batters however, instilled a few hopes in the RCB fans, as Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight and Shreyanka Patil looked in good touch while Smriti Mandhana got off to a flyer but once again crumbled under the pump. The RCB skipper had another off day in the field and she made it clear that the Challengers are going to take all heart from this contest as they look forward to the upcoming fixture.
Talking in the post-match press conference, Smriti said, “I think I’d say even in our bowling, we gave away 10-15 runs more than what we expected to. There were two three overs where we conceded a lot, and not 6-7 runs. We would have gotten better [with the target] otherwise.”
Blending the ground conditions with the positives for RCB, Smriti added, “It’s a good outfield, one end is really short, that did play with few of our bowlers’ in mind, we are trying to work on it. A few positives. Shreyanka, the way she bowled and batted, she is a tough girl. And also Kanika’s performance, they both have been good from the domestic circuit. ” RCB Women will have to put forth their best foot, if they are to turn the tide around after what feels like an extremely shoddy start to the tournament as they are still to register their maiden win of the WPL 2023 campaign.
