“We sprayed them pretty much everywhere” - RCB head coach Ben Sawyer admits bowlers failed to execute plans

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Ben Sawyer has admitted that the bowlers could not execute their plans in the WPL 2023 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) and sprayed the ball all over the place.

RCB tasted their second defeat in the competition when they went down to MI by nine wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, March 6. Chasing a target of 156, Mumbai romped him in 14.2 overs as Bangalore failed to make any kind of impact in the game.

In the post-match press conference, Sawyer reflected on Bangalore’s struggles with the ball. He commented:

“With the ball, we just didn’t execute. I saw the pitch map; we sprayed them pretty much everywhere. We understand that and we just get back to it and understand the areas we’ve got to get better at."

The 45-year-old, who coaches the New Zealand women's team, added that RCB’s bowlers are not applying enough pressure at the moment. He elaborated:

“We looked at it and we probably only had one over without a boundary. We’ve just got to get better at stacking up the balls a little bit. Making sure that we can grab a few dots and then build a little bit of pressure. We’re just not doing that with the ball at the moment.

“It’s not through lack of effort or planning. It’s just a little bit of execution on the night. I am confident that they can get it done in the next few.”

In the first match against Delhi Capitals (DC) as well, RCB were out of rhythm with the ball, conceding 223 runs while picking up only two wickets.

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“Our uncapped players were outstanding” - RCB coach picks positive in loss to MI

While Bangalore’s batters also disappointed against Mumbai, Sawyer was pleased with the performances of India’s uncapped players. Shreyanka Patil (23 off 15) and Kanika Ahuja (22 off 13) ensured their team finished with a decent score after they lost half their side for 71.

Reflecting on RCB’s batting effort, the head coach commented:

“Not the start anyone from the club wanted. Our uncapped players tonight were outstanding. To be five for 80 or whatever we were, for the likes of Shreyanka and Kanika to do what they did, that’s really good. They’ve got those experiences now.

“To lose all our international players before the eighth over probably made it a bit hard. But really proud of the effort in the back half from those girls.”

Five Bangalore batters reached 20, but none of them could convert the starts into big scores. Richa Ghosh’s 28 was the highest score of the innings.