WPL 2024: 'Our batters have let us down', admits Beth Mooney as Gujarat Giants' winless run continues

Bengaluru, March 4 (IANS) After Gujarat Giants’ winless run in 2024 WPL continued with a 25-run loss to Delhi Capitals, captain Beth Mooney admitted the batters have let the side down, as they are now the only side left in the tournament to get off the mark.

Though their bowling kept Delhi to 163, Gujarat couldn't chase down 164, despite a quick 40 by Ashleigh Gardner, to eventually fall short by 25 runs and end their Bengaluru leg of the competition without a win.

Moreover, they didn’t have the services of Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol due to injuries for Sunday’s match, followed by Dayalan Hemalatha being replaced by Sayali Satghare as the first concussion sub in the WPL after being hit on the forehead while trying to take a catch in the first innings.

"Obviously, it is disappointing. We would have loved to be on the board, but it has not worked out that way. We got a little bit close in the end. Had we had a big partnership through the middle, it would have been easy to chase it down."

"You want to get off to a good start in T20 cricket. The Delhi bowlers bowled well. Had we been 50 for no loss after the powerplay, it might have been a different story. We haven't been good enough, I haven't been good enough. Our batters have let us down," said Beth after the match ended.

Gujarat’s batting issues can be summed up by the fact that none of their batters have got a fifty in the tournament so far. "Scoring a few more runs will be pretty helpful, probably from the skipper to begin with and then flowing through the rest of the team going forward," added Beth.

The sloppy fielding performance has added to Gujarat’s misery as they dropped five catches, with each of Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning, Annabel Sutherland, Shikha Pandey, and Jess Jonassen getting reprieves in different stage of Delhi’s innings.

"Our bowling this tournament has been pretty good, to be fair. This is the second or third game we are defending a pretty low total. It's been a pretty disciplined bowling effort. We probably have let the bowlers down in the field, to be honest. (It's) Not up to the standards, given how Delhi fielded. We will have to look at that," said Beth.

Gujarat will begin its Delhi leg of WPL 2024 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.