MI credit ‘team performance’ for 2nd WPL title

Mumbai Indians head coach Charlotte Edwards said the early wickets of Delhi Capitals skipper Meg Lanning and opener Shafali Verma helped her team win the Women’s Premier League final. Lanning (13) and Shafali (4) departed with just 17 runs on the board as DC ended up at 141/9 while chasing 150.

“We knew we were a little bit short, but in a final, it’s always worth a little bit more. Shafali didn’t come out like she normally does, and I knew straightaway that potentially we were in with a chance, because if we could get her wicket,” Edwards said.

Edwards said DC were a bit cagey in their chase. “It probably fell in our hands a little bit that we were a bit short, and potentially they went about it a bit slower than they normally do. The opening partnership of Lanning and Shafali has been our curse over the last few years, so I was really pleased to see the back of those two batters early. It was a real team performance,” she said.

Edwards lauded MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for making an important 66 off 44 balls that led her side to a competitive total. “She’s been really calm. She’s deeply competitive, so clearly she wanted to win another title, and she did everything in her power to do that with the innings she played. She’s great around the group, she brings out the best in our young players, and works brilliantly with all our overseas and experienced players,” she said.

Edwards also praised all-rounders Nat-Sciver Brunt and Hayley Matthews for making heavy contributions throughout the tournament. Brunt was the highest run-getter with 523 runs and Hayley shared the top wicket-taker spot with teammate Amelie Kerr, taking 18 wickets apiece.

DC miss out for third time

DC head coach Jonathan Batty said maybe the occasion got to the players as his team lost its third straight final. “Everyone’s hurting at the moment. I think 99 percent of the time you back yourself to chase 150 on that wicket. Maybe the occasion just got to the players but full credit to Mumbai Indians for the way they defended that total. We were never ahead in the chase. We were in the game all the way through, just couldn’t get over the line,” said Batty.

Batty insisted that the players did not carry baggage of the past going into another final. “The girls have been really positive, I can’t fault them. There has been no negative talk at all like ‘Oh we’ve messed up the last two finals, we’re going to take that baggage into this one’, none of that. I thought they were really positive, really confident. I don’t think there is a mental block at all,” he said.