“She gave it everything she had, she got us exceptionally close and it just wasn’t meant to be and I think they’re the things where you’ve just gotta pick yourself up and you know, carry on with the life” Ellyse Perry reflects on Richa Ghosh’s heroic effort with the bat for RCB, after their loss against DC.
The Delhi Capitals led by skipper Meg Lanning edge past a spirited effort from the wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh to eventually get over the line with one run to book their spot in the playoff stages of the 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League.
Delhi Capitals led by skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and opted to bat first. Delhi Capitals posted a big total (181/5) on the board in their quota of overs. Jemimah Rodrigues (58 off 36 balls) and Alice Capsey (48 off 32 balls) starred with the bat for Delhi Capitals. Shreyanka Patil (4-0-26-4), and Asha Sobhana (4-0-29-1) were the top performers with the ball for RCB.
Chasing a challenging target of 182, RCB got off to a poor start, losing the wicket of the skipper Smriti Mandhana in the 2nd over of the run chase. Ellyse Perry led the recovery for RCB with a solid 80-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to bring RCB back into the run chase. They lost the wicket of Sophie Molineux soon after the departure of Ellyse Perry. Sophie Devine and wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh took the game deep.
The run chase eventually came down to 17 runs off the last over for RCB to register a much-needed victory. Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen was trusted with the duties of bowling the last over of the innings.
“After that 19th over, she ran past and was like it’s you, which I sort of thought it was probably going to be. She didn’t really tell me anything at the start of the over, she sort of backed and trusted that I knew what I wanted to execute and I did, but, that very first ball didn’t quite go to plan. I didn’t execute, where I wanted it to go, and then after that, it was sort of a matter of we knew Richa was going to come hard. I sort of internally knew that at the start of the over. If I could set it up without going for a boundary in one of the first two balls, then we were sort of well and truly on the front foot.” Jess Jonassen on her conversations with skipper Meg Lanning before the last over.
Richa Ghosh started the over with a bang to raise the hopes in the RCB camp. Disha Kasat sacrificed her wicket to keep Richa on strike for most of the over. Richa Ghosh smacked another one into the stands and the equation came down to two runs required off the last ball of the innings. A visibly exhausted Richa Ghosh failed to scamper through for a couple of runs and as a result, was left distraught to see her side falling just one run short of claiming a much-needed victory.
“Oh look I think you’ve just gotta accept that, that’s sport and whenever you come to the ground and you know, you take on the challenge of playing, that’s just part of what you’ve gotta accept is that sometimes you’ll win and sometimes you’ll lose and as long as you give your absolute all, that’s all that matters. From our perspective Richa has certainly done that and more tonight, she gave it everything she had, she got us exceptionally close and it just wasn’t meant to be, and I think they’re the things where you’ve just gotta pick yourself up and you know, carry on with the life firstly because, you know that goes on no matter what and secondly, I’m sure she’ll learn lots from that game and be a better player for it in the future. So there’s only an upside to it.” Ellyse Perry advises Richa Ghosh to move on from a heart-breaking defeat and pick herself up.
(Information sourced from Jio Cinema)