It has not been an ideal start in the second Women’s Premier League season. We underwent a 5-wicket loss against the defending champions, Mumbai Indians, in Bengaluru on Sunday in our season opener. But despite this setback, we are confident in our abilities and look forward to bouncing back strongly in our next game.
We were put to bat first, and things did not go as planned. We lost important wickets early on, including Veda Krishnamurthy, Harleen Deol, and Phoebe Litchfield. Even our skipper got out after scoring just 24 runs. At one point, we were struggling at 78 for 7, but thanks to Tanuja Kanwer and Kathryn Bryce, we managed to put up a fight and reach a total of 126 runs. Mumbai Indians' Shabnim Ismail and Amelia Kerr performed exceptionally well with the ball, taking 3 and 4 wickets, respectively.
With the ball in hand, our debutant Kathryn Bryce made an impact by getting the key wicket of Yastika Bhatia early on. Tanuja Kanwer also contributed by dismissing Hayley Matthews, giving us hope of defending our score. Natalie Sciver-Brunt looked promising but a brilliant piece of fielding for a run-out by Tanuja Kanwer, cut her innings short. Despite our efforts, Mumbai Indians' Amelia Kerr and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur built a strong partnership, leading them to victory with 5 wickets to spare. Tanuja Kanwer was excellent for us, picking up 2 wickets while Kathryn Bryce and Lea Tahuhu too, got their names in the wickets column.
Although our performance in the opening game was not what we hoped for, we are determined to turn things around in our next match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, 27th February. They have had a good start to the tournament, making it an exciting upcoming encounter