Tag: wpl

Fans cheered for Smriti Mandhana, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), after she played aggressively and scored fifty runs in a tough match against Delhi Capitals in WPL 2024 on Thursday, February 29. Smriti energized RCB’s game with a strong 74 runs from 43 balls, but her team lost because other batters didn’t support her.

In the game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Delhi Capitals (DC) batted first and scored a challenging 194/5 in 20 overs. Shafali Verma (50), Alice Capsey (46), Marizanne Kapp (32), and Jess Jonassen (36*) did well in batting for them.

Smriti Mandhana took charge of RCB’s batting in the powerplay and attacked the bowlers. She cleverly aimed for the short leg-side boundary to score quickly.

Her partners, Sophie Devine (23) and Sabbhineni Meghana (36), struggled to score freely, which put pressure on Smriti. Despite this, Smriti reached her first WPL half-century with 74 runs before Marizanne Kapp dismissed her in the 12th over. RCB couldn’t recover from there and ended up with 169/9 in 20 overs.

RCB fans were happy to see Smriti Mandhana’s great performance, but the team lost to DC in WPL 2024. They praised her through reactions on X. Here are some of the reactions:

“After the loss to DC in WPL 2024, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana said, ‘It was a bad game, but we need to learn from it and come back stronger.'”

After the match, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana talked about the loss:

“We didn’t perform as well as we did in the first two matches. It was a tough game, but we need to learn from it and come back stronger. When we were in the dugout, we discussed how they were ahead by 10-15 runs. I talked with Sophie and said if we play till the 14th or 15th over, we can make it.”

She added:

“Women’s cricket is improving, so I had to work on my leg side shots. The boundaries on the leg side were short, so I focused there. Regarding bowling, I won’t be too critical. We didn’t bowl or field up to our standards. With the crowd, we don’t get much attention. We’ll discuss it and improve. I’ll take responsibility and be quicker on the field.”

RCB will play against MI on Saturday (March 2) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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In a recent event, Nat Sciver-Brunt, an all-rounder cricketer from the England women’s team, made an incredible Rs 3.2 crore at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction. Exciting yet challenging moment for her, she struggled with accepting the idea of being “sold” in the cricket market 

Regardless of the trill about the auction, Nat Sciver-Brunt had to think of an upcoming T20 World Cup Match. This shows how busy and hectic the schedules cricketers have in today’s time. Just days after the WPL final, England had matches in New Zealand. Nat Sciver-Brunt had to decide whether to play for her franchise or her national team. Money was a factor, but she also hoped that in the future, players wouldn’t have to choose between clubs and countries.

England Women’s head coach, Jon Lewis, faced a similar problem. He stressed the need for better scheduling to avoid clashes like this. Some players, like Heather Knight and Lauren Bell, chose national duty. Others, like Sciver-Brunt, tried to balance both teams.

Reflecting on her decision, Sciver-Brunt recognized the complexity of individual choices. Conversations with teammates highlighted the diverse perspectives within the cricketing community.

“It is such a hard one because it’s almost like it’s a bit of an anomaly, like it’ll – well hopefully – will not happen again,” Sciver-Brunt said. “So yeah, it was a tricky decision, and I guess individuals have made their own choices, and hopefully we won’t be faced with that again.”

The growing women’s franchise scene introduced new experiences, including the intense and surreal auction process. Sciver-Brunt found the wording of being “sold at auction” baffling but acknowledged it as part of the evolving landscape.

“The wording of being sold at auction is still a bit baffling,” Sciver-Brunt said. “But to be part of it was pretty crazy, intense at times, and also just a weird day with it being during the World Cup.”

As a senior player, Sciver-Brunt embraced her leadership role, understanding the importance of sharing knowledge and supporting teammates on and off the field. Despite the pressure of her lucrative deal, she remained focused on delivering performances that would benefit her team.

“Being a senior player in the England side, I sort of had a bit of experience of that… making sure I have my own responsibility to be passing on knowledge and be open with everyone so that the whole group can improve,” she said.

“Obviously with a big price tag, that does add another layer to it, but last year I was lucky that I was in quite a good place in my cricket, so I didn’t have to think too much about the performance side of it and just naturally let it happen. I’ve had a good training block this time, so we’ll see how it goes.”