'What does not kill us will make us stronger' - Charlotte Edwards instills lost faith in MI camp after Eliminator drubbing

Defending champions Mumbai Indians are out of the Women’s Premier League 2024 after they lost a thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday, March 15. Chasing a target of 136 runs set by RCB, MI did let go of their A-game in the fag end of the match. As a result, the RCB bowlers, particularly Asha Sobhana, capitalised on the momentum and the Women in Red registered their maiden entry into the final of WPL.

The MI camp was heartbroken and the emotions were palpable on the faces of the players, as they bowed out of the packed Arun Jaitley Stadium. Harmanpreet Kaur was visibly in tears and the emotions got carried into the dressing room. MI’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, uplifted the team's spirit as she expressed her gratitude and instilled lost motivation while hailing the team’s performance throughout the league.

"I just want to say, look, I know everyone is gutted. I am gutted because I think we were really close. It will hurt, it will hurt for a few weeks, probably until we meet again, but we will be stronger because of this experience. We will be better, and I am absolutely certain of that," Edwards said in a video uploaded by Mumbai Indians on ‘X’.

"A personal thank you to Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur], for obviously leading the team brilliantly throughout this whole tournament and to all the support staff. No one sees what goes on behind the scenes. Thank you so much for your hard work. What does not kill us will make us stronger, ladies, I promise you," she added.

Here's the video of Edward's speech:

We needed just one boundary: Harmanpreet Kaur

The turning point of the match had to be Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket. The MI captain was looking set for an extended innings as Shreyanka Patil sent her packing. Post that, MI couldn’t recover and Amelia Kerr did knock a few deliveries around, but failed to traject them out of the park. Sobhana’s last over was the final nail in the coffin. She defended 11 runs and picked up the wicket of Pooja Vastrakar, ultimately leading RCB to a five-run win.

"We bowled really well, we restricted them to under 140. batting was also good but the last 12 balls we did not bat well. In the 12 balls, we needed just one boundary, we could not be able to get that. This game always teaches you and puts you under pressure, you need to learn from it. When we lost my wicket, our batters could not hold their nerve, that was the turning point," Kaur said during the post-match presentation.

Also Read: WPL 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur unhappy with batters for not finishing the job against RCB