Smriti Mandhana rues batters failing to kick on after getting starts

Mumbai Indians (MI) handed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) their second defeat of the Women's Premier League (WPL), easing past them by nine wickets with 34 balls to spare. Hayley Matthews put in an all-round show, first picking up three wickets with the ball, and with the bat smashing an unbeaten 38-ball 77 to ensure that her side makes it two wins in two in the tournament.

RCB managed were bowled out for 155, with plenty of players getting starts but none managed to take responsibility and kick on, which is something skipper Smriti Mandhana is not too pleased about.

"We would have loved to put up a better performance. We were below par. Will come back harder. There were 2-3 batters getting 20-30 runs, a few batters including me couldn't put up a good score. We will sit and talk and try to come up with a better performance," Mandhana said at the post-match presentation.

RCB's net run-rate now stands at -3.176 after two games, but Mandhana remains positive that her side can still come out of this rut.

"It's a pretty short tournament, we can't dwell on it. In Franchise cricket, even after two losses we can turn it around quickly," the southpaw said.

Player of the match Matthews has credited the freedom given to her by MI as the reason behind her success in the tournament so far.  "The freedom in this MI team has given me plenty of confidence," Matthews said. 

"They're going well at the moment, watching the ball nicely and the ball is coming on nicely. They [RCB] did put me under pressure in the first over, but it was nice to come back well. We've so many match-winners in the team and Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur] is leading us well," she added.

RCB have a day's break before they take on Gujarat Giants (GG), who are also winless in the tournament, on Wednesday (March 8). MI, on the other hand, take on Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday (March 9).