WPL 2024: 5 Reasons Why RCB Lost To Delhi Capitals And Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) succumbed to a 25-run loss and a 7-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in Match 7 and 9 respectively, in the Women’s Premier League 2024 (WPL 2024) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In Match 7, Delhi Capitals set a massive total of 195 batting first and although Royal Challengers Bangalore looked en route to chase it down, somewhere they lacked steam. Here’s a dissection of what did not work well.

In Match 9, RCB batting first got to a below-par 131 with no batter coming to the party barring Ellyse Perry and MI chased down the total without any hassle. This meant RCB slipped to a second consecutive loss.

WPL 2024: Where did it go wrong for RCB?

Lack of Strike Options in RCB’s Bowling

In the match versus DC, RCB was already missing the services of Ellyse Perry who missed out on the match owing to illness, so the pace bowling relied heavily on Renuka Singh Thakur, Sophie Devine and Nadine de Klerk. While Renuka was economical, she did not scalp any wickets and with Sophie Devine and Nadine de Klerk scalping two each; the frailties and inconsistency of Renuka in the pace attack could be seen. A similar pattern was observed in the encounter versus MI

While the spinners have been consistent for RCB in the first two games of this season, the spin quartet of Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Asha Sobhana and Shreyanka Patil went wicketless and erred in their line and length, as a result- relentlessly punished by the Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indian batters in consecutive matches.

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RCB’s Death Bowling

In the match against Delhi Capitals, DC was scoring at a brisk pace through the match, one aspect that worked wonders was how they maximised the death overs. Securing 70 crucial runs in the final five proved a massive bonus for DC and the difference between the two sides. Jess Jonassen was at her attacking best and scored a massive 36 off 16 which was an impetus to DC’s total. Even Marizanne Kapp’s 32 off 16 coupled with Arundhati Reddy’s 10 off 4 dismantled RCB’s bowling. RCB could not replicate the same in their final five overs they lost seven wickets which proved to be detrimental.

In the encounter versus MI, RCB did not show any fight with the ball thereby paving the way for a famous MI win.

Overdependence on Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine in the Batting Department

RCB has star batters in their ranks, yet the dependence on the attacking and fierce opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine is not unknown. In a massive chase versus DC, RCB needed the duo to fire. Although the left-handed Mandhana rose to the occasion and delivered with a scintillating 74, Devine could not make the most and was taking time to settle in.

Once the duo departed- the chase seemed far from impossible to secure. Adding to the misery- the absence of the experienced Perry, RCB had it tough as vindicated by the rest of the batting who could not deliver. A similar streak occurred in the encounter with MI which caused RCB’s downfall and a below-par total.

S Meghana’s indifferent knock

S Meghana has been in delightful form this WPL. Amassing 125 runs for RCB in her first two matches, her knocks in RCB colours have been clinical. However, in this critical and challenging run chase versus DC, S Meghana could not quite bring her A-game. Her knock of 36 coming from 31 balls saw her pile on the dots, not take more chances to attack the bowlers, not multiply the singles and even poor strike rotation became the features of her knock. Even, in the MI encounter she was far from form scoring a dismal 11 off 12 balls which did not help RCB.

She would rue not taking on the fringe bowlers and stepping up in the run-chase and that is where hindsight can be a wonderful teacher for her. Widely criticised for her knocks in consecutive games, her intent was under scrutiny and she would be itching to prove her detractors wrong for the rest of the season.

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Dropped catches and poor fielding

RCB also had a forgettable day in their fielding efforts, especially in the match versus DC. A lot of easy catches were dropped in the outfield which proved to be costly for RCB. While Shafali Verma was dropped twice, she went on to score a fifty which was far from ideal for RCB. At large, in the encounter, there were a lot of other missed opportunities and RCB would want to get back to the groove to challenge their opposition going ahead.

The MI match did see miniscule improvement but it is often the small aspects that are proving to be costly for RCB.

What next for RCB?

RCB would want to return to the drawing board and reflect on all aspects of their game. More specifically, they would want to direct their energy and effort to their fielding, make better game plans for a massive run-chase and how to tackle batting first on losing the toss, ideate on better bowling options for the middle and death overs and come back with a fresh mindset to tackle UP Warriorz in their next league game, on Monday.

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