A packed Chinnaswamy Stadium gave Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) a rousing send off in their last home game of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 on Monday night, and Smriti Mandhana’s team acknowledged the loving cheers of their 12th Man Army with a victory lap after their win against UP Warriorz.
The unwavering support had lifted the team during tense moments in their matches, said the leg-spinner Georgia Wareham.
“The crowds are a massive win for us. I think it’s a little bit intimidating at first, but it’s nice knowing that they’re all cheering for us, which as an Australian being over here is a little bit different.
“But, yeah, it’s like having a 12th man. They call it a 12th Man Army. So, yeah, it’s really special and I think having that noise is really cool for us and I think it brings us through big moments and, yeah, it sort of lifts the team when we need lifting,” Wareham said at the post-match press conference following RCB’s comprehensive 23-run victory, their third in this WPL.
Looking forward to the Delhi leg, Wareham said that consistency would be an important factor for RCB.
“More than anything, consistency. I think we’ve been a little bit up and down over the past five games. Travelling to Delhi, I think we’ve just got to be ready for anything when we get there and adapt and try and get there as fresh as we can. So it’ll probably be not doing much tomorrow after we get there and just make sure that we get everything right before we step out on the field in Delhi.”
Wareham, recapping the night’s performance, said that the batting exploits of skipper Smriti and Ellyse Perry were the highlights of the win. Wareham also praised Perry’s fielding efforts, talking about how that set the example for the rest of the side.
“Pez [Perry] also leads us in the fielding. I think the way that she’s sprinting across the ground the whole game is, yeah, I think easy for everyone else to follow on. I think when you’ve got fielders like that in the team to sort of just copy what they do is pretty easy for everyone else,” said Wareham.
Wareham also spoke about how she was impressed by fellow leggie Asha Sobhana’s ability to soak up the pressure. “She’s super talented. I think we both sort of bowl a little bit differently, but I think the way that Smriti’s used us has actually been really cool, sort of both bowling through the middle there.
“I love Ash’s confidence, the way that she bowls sort of forgets about the last ball and her ability to just bowl her best ball every ball, I think, is something that everyone sort of aspires to be able to do, just to be able to sort of forget what just happened regardless and perform as well as she has so far has been unbelievable,” Wareham said.
RCB will be in action for their sixth match on Wednesday evening against Gujarat Giants at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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