India international Sneh Rana defended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting strategy after her side was beaten by UP Warriorz by virtue of a Super Over, the first-ever in Women’s Premier League history, on Monday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
After Sophie Ecclestone’s heroic batting in the death overs took the match to a Super Over, Kim Garth’s miserly bowling restricted the Warriorz to eight runs.
RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh came out to the middle but scored just four runs in six balls.
Earlier in regulation play, Australian Ellyse Perry had continued her pristine form with the bat with a spotless unbeaten 90, while Smriti and Richa made six and eight, respectively.
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When quizzed whether Perry could have been a better choice in the Super Over as one of the batters, Sneh – who debuted for RCB in this match – backed her team’s decisions.
“I don’t think so [on whether Perry could have been better], because our top order has been consistently scoring runs. We’ve seen Smriti do that, and Richa is a special player who can bat at any position. After all, it’s the management’s call, and I can’t comment on that, but I think two fine openers had gone to bat,” Sneh, who took three wickets, told reporters after the match.
‘We trusted our team’
It was youngster Shweta Sehrawat who came out to speak at the press conference from the UP Warriorz camp, with mentor Lisa Sthalekar watching on.
“Whatever decisions we took as a team, be it in the bowling or the batting, we put a lot of trust in the players. We showcased that in the end,” the 20-year-old said.
Shweta was one of the few bright spots in the Warriorz’s middle-order after scoring a measured 25-ball 31 during her side’s batting.
“We all were nervous in the dugout because the match became very close. We kept our calm and had full confidence because she [Ecclestone] is one of the best all-rounders in the world,” Shweta said.
