WPL 2024: RCB’s playoffs chances – ‘Our destiny is in our own hands,’ says coach Luke Williams

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana with RCB’s coach Luke Williams. (Photo: X)

Two back-to-back wins to kick-start their WPL 2024 season inspired hopes of a consistently formidable showing from the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore who had opened their campaign last season with five consecutive defeats. But two subsequent losses, followed by a win and a loss apiece at the ongoing iteration, have left them in a middle-of-the-table scramble in pursuit of a playoffs spot.

While the Royal Challengers are currently placed third on the points table with six points from three wins and a net run rate of 0.038, they trail second-placed Mumbai Indians by two points and are ahead of the fourth-placed UP Warriorz by two points, with all three teams having played six matches. Current table-toppers, Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, have eight points from five wins. Bottom-placed Gujarat Giants have only two points from five games, but are mathematically still alive in the hunt for a finish in the top three.

The Royal Challengers, who lost their last match by 19 runs to the Giants on Wednesday, take the field next on Sunday, against the Capitals, who finished runners-up last year and haven’t lost a match this season since their opening game. The team’s head coach, Luke Williams, who replaced Ben Sawyer in the role ahead of the 2024 iteration, said the team was cognisant that their chances of qualification still remain in their own hands.

“We’ve played well enough at times through this tournament to win three games of cricket. So, our destiny is in our own hands in this tournament. I really hope that we know, we believe, we trust that our best cricket will beat any team in this competition. So, for us, it’s about some recovery. We’ve obviously had a busy schedule, but also some time to think and plan and look forward to Sunday night where we’re going to put on our best performance for the season against Delhi,” he was quoted as saying in a Royal Challengers media release.

The Royal Challengers' woes lie predominantly in their want of penetration with the ball, a trend that has pervaded all six matches of theirs regardless of whether they batted or bowled first. Williams, however, praised his attack for giving just 65 runs in the last eight overs at the expense of five wickets in their match against the Giants, who eventually posted a mammoth 199 for 5 and went on to register their first win.

“Tough night. Tough start to our innings, obviously 130 for no loss after twelve overs. I thought it was a really impressive effort in the back end of the innings from that particular position where often it’d be 220 to 230. To keep Gujarat under 200, I thought was a very good effort,” Williams told the players after the match against the Giants in the Royal Challengers' Game Day Diary video.

“So, some positives to take out of different aspects there with our bowling, but still some stuff to think and look to improve on our execution and find ways to be able to do that will be important,” he added.