Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur showed clear frustration following her team’s close loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2024 Women’s Premier League eliminator on Friday. Despite restricting Smriti Mandhana’s team to 135/6, MI stumbled in the final phase of their run-chase. In the last 12 balls, MI managed to score only 10 runs out of the needed 15, resulting in a narrow defeat in Delhi.
Harmanpreet expressed regret over the lack of boundaries during the crucial final overs, which could have shifted the momentum in their favor. Despite having experienced batters such as Harmanpreet, Sajana, and Amelia Kerr at the crease, MI failed to hit any boundaries and lost three wickets in the last three overs.
Looking back at the match, Harmanpreet commended their bowling effort for limiting RCB to a modest total of 135/6. However, she acknowledged that their batters succumbed to pressure in the crucial final two overs, where they required only 16 runs to secure victory.
“We bowled well, we restricted them to under 140. Batting was also good but in the last 12 balls, we did not bat well. In 12 balls, we needed just one boundary, we were not able to get that. This game always teaches you and puts you under pressure, you need to learn from it. When we lost my wicket, our batters could not hold their nerve, that was the turning point,” Harmanpreet said after the game, as quoted by ANI.
“We fought hard, this season has been up and down for us, last season we did really well but we learnt a lot and hopefully next season we will prepare well and come back hard,” she added.
Despite facing adversity for most of the match, RCB’s ability to sustain a controlled run rate proved pivotal in their triumph. The mounting pressure on MI ultimately led to RCB securing a narrow 5-run victory.
The WPL is poised to crown a first-time champion this year, as RCB gears up for a final showdown against the Delhi Capitals at the latter’s home stadium. Notably, neither team has clinched an Indian Premier League (IPL) title either, underscoring the significance of potentially securing a maiden franchise title across both men’s and women’s leagues on March 17.