'When we lost my wicket, our batters couldn't hold their nerve': Harmanpreet Kaur blames middle-order batters for eliminator loss to RCB

Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians (MI) could not make it to the second consecutive Women’s Premier League (WPL) final as they suffered a five-run loss in the eliminator clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). MI looked in control of the run chase with Harmanpreet and Amelia Kerr in the middle but with the skipper losing her wicket, RCB bowlers tightened the screws and did not let them score a single boundary. Harmanpreet feels that lower-middle order batters could not hold their nerves and it was just a matter of one boundary. 
 

“We bowled really well, we restricted them to under 140. Batting was also good but the last 12 balls we did not bat well. In 12 balls, we needed just one boundary, we could not be able to get that. This game always teaches you and puts you under pressure, you need to learn from it. When we lost my wicket, our batters could not hold their nerve, that was the turning point,” she said in the post-match presentation. 

In the last 18 balls, RCB managed to score 14 runs. S Sajana scored just one run from three balls and she lost her wicket to left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux. After the loss, Harmanpreet chose to look at the positives from the tournament. 
 

“We saw SS (Sajana) this tournament, she can hit really hard and that's what this WPL can do, to bring up young players. We fought really hard, this season has been up and down for us, last season we did really well but we learnt a lot and hopefully next season we will prepare well and come back hard,” she added. 
 

Harmanpreet walked in to bat in the ninth over. The 35-year-old scored 33 runs from 30 balls including four fours. She lost her wicket to Shreyanka Patil in the 18th over of the run chase.
 

Harmanpreet’s numbers in WPL 2024

Harmanpreet ended the tournament as MI's highest run-scorer. She scored 268 runs from seven games at an average of 53.6 including two half-centuries. Her standout knock of unbeaten 95 from 48 balls came against Gujarat Giants where she smashed five sixes and 10 fours.
 

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