Chasing a total is a lot easier – Smriti Mandhana on her match-winning knock against DC

Smriti Mandhana’s commanding 96 played an instrumental part in shaping up RCB’s chase of 167 against Delhi Capitals. The Royal Challengers captain came in with a solid show of fireworks, instrumental in a 142-run partnership with Georgia Voll for the second wicket.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Mandhana opened up at length about her innings, highlighting the thought process behind the pacing of the knock. She also spoke at length about how the inclusion of Georgia Voll makes RCB a lot more balanced than before.

Talking about her knock, Mandhana said, “Yeah, it was good. I mean, chasing a total is something which is a lot easier than setting up because as a batter, you don't know what's good enough, especially on wickets like these. So when they got 160-odd and we lost Grace, I knew which bowlers I have to take on and which bowlers I have to respect. So, yeah, again, small little things you do, but some days it works, some days it doesn't in T20 and I'm happy that it worked today for us and we won the match.”

She concluded by talking about RCB’s playing XI against DC was the perfect fit, while dropping a special mention about Voll, stating, “Yeah, for sure. I mean, the first three matches also, we definitely won it, but we thought we are one batter short and Voll coming in at number three fits in really well. And yeah, unfortunately today, Aru was unwell. So if that swap happens, I mean, that would be the best 11 for us.”