New Delhi: It’s rare to see Meg Lanning deflated in a dugout in a final. A serial winner with seven ICC titles – five as Australia skipper – Lanning isn’t used to being second best. Yet, in the Women’s Premier League, her team ending up as second-best has been the pattern.
Last year’s defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final left her in tears. This time, though heartbroken, she seemed to convey a sense of acceptance. But three consecutive final losses, despite finishing as table-toppers after the group games each time, will sting.
“We haven’t been able to put our best performances on the board in the final, which is disappointing but that’s cricket,” said Lanning after the loss to Mumbai Indians on their home turf on Saturday night. “No fault of anyone’s, we came in as prepped as we could be to do as well as we could. It has just not happened for us. It has been different each time around.”
The WPL may be young, just three editions done, but reputations get formed fast – so do psychological barriers. Just ask their IPL counterparts, or Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings. Big-match pressure, luck or a growing reputation for falling short can all weigh on a team.
Head coach Jonathan Batty, however, rejected that his team had succumbed to pressure.
{{/usCountry}}Head coach Jonathan Batty, however, rejected that his team had succumbed to pressure.
{{/usCountry}}“I don’t think it’s a mental block at all,” he said post-match. “The players were up for it… The opposition outplayed us and deserved to win.”
Still, Delhi will need time to process another near miss, more so because this was their closest final yet, an eight-run defeat compared to their previous seven and eight-wicket losses. Pointing out the fine margins, Batty said: “To lose by eight runs, which is two boundaries… we lost it by two balls in the end. That game can go either way from there.”
One factor could be Delhi’s lack of game time at the venue. Their last league game was in Lucknow, a week earlier, and by virtue of being table-toppers, they didn’t play at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium until the final. The weeklong gap could also have disrupted their rhythm.
However, vice-captain Jemimah Rodrigues had dismissed such concerns pre-match. “Barring a few, most players have played on this Brabourne pitch. We also played as a team here in the first edition, so we are pretty familiar with the conditions.”
But on the night, familiarity wasn’t enough. Unlike the previous two finals where Delhi batted first and struggled, they chose to chase this time. It was a risk as it meant going against the trend. Teams batting first had won all three games at Brabourne leading up to the final.
MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, in fact, said her team made the 150 target set for DC look like 180. Batty though noted that restricting Mumbai to 149/7 felt like a secure effort given the venue’s average first innings score was 180. Yet, a change in the tactics led to a familiar batting collapse.
Delhi tried to fix their finishing struggle by strengthening their lower-middle order with Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp and Scotland ‘keeper-batter Sarah Bryce. But when their top order of Lanning, Shafali Verma and Jess Jonassen fell early, the middle order could not bail them out. A spate of rash shots under pressure in the final overs too hurt DC.
Sutherland and Rodrigues had underwhelming seasons with the bat and couldn’t step up on the big night. Kapp’s fighting 40 off 26 kept DC in the game, but the Mumbai bowlers held firm.
Whether it is psychological, tactical or a mix of both, DC must figure out what’s holding them back. They had the tools to succeed and take their consistency to its logical end. But they discovered consistency alone won’t help – they needed to find a better plan to organise their chase, and get the execution right. Only that will help reverse this losing trend.