Following Delhi Capitals’ 25-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 7th match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, bowling all-rounder Marizanne Kapp said that she was “a bit nervous” while bowling in the second inning.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Kapp praised Smriti Mandhana and said that she was hitting the well. She added that the DC bowlers had to “go short and use more variations” to get wickets.
“Tonight, I was a bit nervous, thinking that you’ll have to bowl on this wicket. Smriti was hitting the ball well, scoring in all areas and I just backed myself. I would love to play straight, down the ground. We batted well as a group. The bowling pace on that wicket made it sit up to be smacked, so we had to go short and use more variations,” Kapp said.
Meanwhile, DC skipper Meg Lanning commented on the pitch in Bengaluru and said that the outfield was fast and had short boundaries. The skipper further praised Jess Jonassen’s performance and said that she was “excellent with both bat and ball”.
“It was a reasonable wicket, quick outfield, and short boundaries, so you come to the ground expecting a high-scoring contest. I think we did an excellent job with the bat, kept the momentum going, Shafali, Capsey, Kapp and JJ kept us ahead, with the left-right combination working. ‘Play to your strengths’ is what I’d say. When you are defending 200, you need to keep your cool and be calm. You’ll have to stay in the match, and I think the girls did well to come back into the contest. Both players have good experience (on choosing Jonassen ahead of Sutherland), it’s difficult to nail in 4 of them – with JJ, she can hold her nerve and she was excellent with both bat and ball,” Lanning said.
Coming to the match, while chasing a target of 195, RCB got off to a flying start with Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine firing all cylinders.
However, after Devine’s departure, RCB’s middle order crumbled like a house of cards allowing DC to make an unprecedented comeback in the game.
RCB needed 45 runs in the final five overs, DC’s clinical bowling helped them to clinch a 25-run victory.-ANI