“Ecstasy one moment, agony the very next,” read the caption of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s social media post after a heart-breaking defeat against Delhi Capitals on Sunday night. The equation of the match-up was simple – beat the hosts to get the ‘Q’ mark against their name on the tally. But RCB, who seemed to be nearing a perfect ending, were suddenly far from one. They fell a run short of victory, being forced to wait longer to enter the next round.
Ecstasy turned into agony, and how. The video shared by the franchise next day on X spoke volume about the emotions which ran through their minds. It was a dressing full of disappointment and remorse of missing out a great achievement by a whisker. Had Richa Ghosh not fallen short of the crease, RCB would have been through.
But the sun has to rise again and for RCB, it not only rose the next day but shone the brightest as well. Their next fixture, the last group-stage game, against Gujarat Giants was a do-or-die and they fought as if there was no tomorrow. Ellyse Perry led the charge with the best-ever bowling spell – 6/15 – of the WPL history and then scored an unbeaten 40, taking her team back to ecstasy with a 7-wicket win against the defending champions, Mumbai Indians.
A day after producing a magical spell to star in RCB’s first-ever playoff qualification, Perry addressed a select media interaction and recalled the post-match scenes in the change room from the DC clash. Replying to a News18 CricketNext query, the ace Aussie all-rounder said the chips were down indeed but the team was determined to bounce back and make the cut in the next face-off.
“We got so close the last match against Delhi. So certainly it was a tough loss, but I also think to keep things very much in perspective, the sun always comes up the next day. No matter how hard it feels at the time, it is just a game of sport. And I think, to have each other there when something like that happens, it’s easy to pick yourself back up and get going again” Perry said while answering a CricketNext query.
“So, we had a really good training session the next day after that game together, we all kind of just stuck together. And I think, the overwhelming thing was just, we were really excited for another opportunity to play. I think in any competition, particularly in T20, you’ve got to kind of be expecting to have some moments go your way and other moments be tough and not quite fall your way,” she added.
Bangalore to Delhi – a challenging transition
Perry hadn’t tasted success this season with the ball until she wreaked havoc against Gujarat. However, she has been one of the most-economic bowlers of the tournament. Despite the change in the venues midway, she didn’t lose her momentum as she feels that her team has adapted to new conditions very well.
“The experience across two different venues this time around has been great. As I said a few times, playing at home in front of our fans at Chinnaswamy was phenomenal. And then to come up to Delhi, I think the conditions are a fair bit different, the way that the wickets are playing the ground dimensions. So, having to adjust to that has been a really good challenge for all the teams involved and certainly showing some different games of cricket as a result. So that’s been really cool, too,” Perry said about her bowling experience so far in the tournament.
“And I think we’ve adapted as we moved ahead. Certainly the last two matches in Delhi, we’ve played some really good cricket and sort of understand the conditions better. So, yeah. Excited for another opportunity in a few days’ time,” she added.
Comments
0 comment