New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana said that poor performance in the first season taught her and the team a lot, as she thanked the team management and fans for continuously backing and supporting her.
An all-round Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by yet another solid knock by Ellyse Perry and brilliant bowling spells from spinners Shreyanka Patil and Sophie Molineux captured their first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) title after defeating Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the title clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. This win comes after a second-last-place finish in the inaugural edition, in which they won just two matches out of eight.
After the title win, Smriti said that the feeling of winning the title has not sunk in yet and she cannot find the right way to express it.
“Feeling hasn’t still sunk in. Hard for me to come out with expressions. One thing I’ll say is I’m proud of the bunch. Our Bangalore leg was really good. We came to Delhi and had two tough losses. That’s what we spoke about that we need to step up at the right time. These tournaments are about peaking at the right time. Last year taught us a lot of things. What went wrong, what went right. Management just said this is your team, build it (your way). Thumbs up to them. For RCB, it’s a lot more. I’m not the only one who won the trophy, the team has won the trophy. I’m not the person to talk about what I feel. This is in top five maybe. Obviously a World Cup would top it. Have a message for the fans – the most loyal fanbase. One statement that always comes up is Ee Sala Cup Namde. Now it’s Ee Sala Cup Namdu. Kannada is not my first language but it was important to say it for the fans” said Smriti Mandhana in Post match conference.
In the chase of 114, RCB put on a 49-run opening stand, powered by Sophie Devine (32 in 27 balls, with five fours and a six). However, RCB was tested by Delhi bowlers in middle overs and skipper Smriti Mandhana (31 in 39 balls, with three fours) departed at a crucial juncture to leave RCB at 82/2 in 15 overs. However, Ellyse Perry (35* in 37 balls, with four boundaries) and Richa Ghosh (17* in 14 balls, with two fours) finished the chase with three balls left.
