After a crushing eight-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty felt that the team lacked partnerships that could build on Jemimah Rodrigues and Meg Lanning’s fifty-run stand for the second wicket.
“We just couldn’t quite kick on. We probably need another 50 or 60-run partnership somewhere within our batting unit to have got up to 170,” Batty said after the game on Monday.
“I think we were quite short on runs. Batting was probably more difficult at the start of the day. So, I was pretty pleased coming out of the PowerPlay being 55 for one.”
ALSO READ: Smriti plays captain’s knock as Royal Challengers Bengaluru thrashes Delhi Capitals to remain perfect in Vadodara
Skipper Lanning and Jemimah got going in the first six overs after Shafali Verma fell for a duck to help the Capitals fight back.
“They got a nice partnership going after Shafali’s early dismissal. I thought they actually played really positively as well and with relatively low-risk shots.”
However, Batty acknowledged that the RCB bowlers were on the money early on and losing a flurry of wickets in the middle overs didn’t help as DC folded for 141.
“They never really let us get away from them, even though we sort of threatened a couple of times. We probably made it a little bit too easy for them to take our wickets. I don’t think (141) was ever really going to be enough with the dew coming in again.”
RCB’s Wareham pleased with team effort
Georgia Wareham and Renuka Singh were the pick of the RCB bowlers, claiming three wickets apiece.
The Australian said that RCB’s bowling unit made a good comeback after bleeding runs in the first game. “To restrict them to 140 in the end was a really good job from all the bowlers.
Wareham finished with figures of three for 25 and said that focusing on keeping the stumps in play helped make the difference. “I think length was really important today. It couldn’t be too full. On wickets like this, it stays a little bit lower.”
She was also happy to see teammate Renuka get off to a perfect start this season, claiming five wickets in two matches. “Renuka has been amazing. She’s got the Purple Cap now.
“She hasn’t taken as many wickets as she would have liked in the last couple of seasons. For her to get off to the start that she has in this tournament is really good. Plus, you’re in good stead for the rest of the tournament heading into Bengaluru,” said Wareham.