NEW DELHI: RCB all-rounder Nadine de Klerk on Friday said it would take a few days for the dramatic three-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League opener to sink in, adding that backing her strengths helped her play a decisive role in the thrilling contest.The South African returned impressive figures of 4/26 to restrict Mumbai Indians to 154 for six and then held her nerve with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 63 off 44 balls under pressure to claim the player-of-the-match award in the last-ball victory.
“It is probably going to take a couple of days. If it is your day, you have to ensure you cash in. Glad to get the win,” de Klerk said when asked if the feeling had sunk in.De Klerk said she stuck to the basics while bowling, which helped her reap rewards.“Just about coming in and backing your skills, and executing. Just sticking to my strengths… sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. On these grounds, on these batting wickets, you just need to cash in.”Speaking about her approach while batting, de Klerk said she wanted to maximize her impact by staying on strike.“Towards the back end, I was thinking of taking a bulk of the strike. Couple of important partnerships. Arundhati (Reddy, 20 runs) batted beautifully. A couple of boundaries (by Prema Rawat – 8 not out) were also very important.”RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana said her side was known for dramatic finishes.“It was a thriller. RCB are known for thrillers, and brilliant from Nadine (to win us this game). Everyone was very positive, even when things were not going well. Nadine did all the work for us in the batting and bowling department,” Mandhana said.Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted her bowlers fell short on the day.“We just did not bowl one good ball. This happens. We gave her (de Klerk) chances and sometimes, batters come with strong mindset. We missed those chances.“In WPL, we always get matches like that. We need to think what better we can do in the next match,” she added.
