DC coach Jonathan Batty: If you keep putting yourself in finals, you will win one

"It's really tough to take," Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty said well past midnight on Friday, after his team had suffered defeat in their fourth successive WPL final. Unlike the previous three, however, this time DC had come so close to their maiden title.

"Having played so well in the Eliminator earlier in the week, and coming into this game with momentum and then putting a really good score on the board," Batty said. "I was proud with the way we went about our business with the bat."

DC posted 203 to set the game up, proving they weren't just a chasing team as their five wins in the tournament seemed to suggest. Then, after Smriti Mandhana and Georgia Voll put on a 165-run stand off 92 balls, the highest in WPL history, DC caused a mild flutter that could've turned into full-blown panic.

"Twenty overs in, you think, 'okay it's a good score, if we bowl well here, we've got a very good chance.' But we're really disappointed to come out on the wrong end of it again. But full credit to RCB, obviously those two batters, Georgia Voll and Smriti, played absolutely fantastically."

With 13 needed off eight deliveries, Minnu Mani put down a swirling catch at extra cover to reprieve Radha Yadav first ball. A wicket there, after Mandhana and Richa Ghosh's dismissals, could have been a game-changer. With RCB needing eight off four deliveries, Radha went on to inflict heartbreak on her former franchise, hitting consecutive boundaries in the final over to seal victory.

"I'm really proud of our team's effort, to still be in the game there when it looked like it was drifting for a period of time," Batty said. "To still be in that last over and lose with only two balls to go, I think we showed a lot of fight, a lot of heart. But the game kind of summed up our season, that we did certain bits really well , and other bits kind of fell away at times as well."

Batty had high praise for Jemimah Rodrigues in her maiden season as DC captain, a young leader growing into the job, learning with each game. "I'm hugely proud of Jemi," he said. "I think particularly losing the first couple of games of the tournament, she was probably under quite a bit of pressure there, but she brought her energy and her experience to the table. Obviously, batting-wise, she contributed a lot of runs through the tournament.

"But I thought she made outstanding decisions as captain throughout the whole tournament. Her leadership grew and grew as we went through it as well. So, I'm really proud of the effort she's put in. She's thrown her heart and soul into this season. So, I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes that over the next few years as well."

Even with the benefit of hindsight, Batty wasn't sure if DC could've done anything different with the ball to stop Mandhana and Voll in the final - like bringing on Marizanne Kapp earlier for her fourth over. By the time she came back, RCB needed only 54 off 36 with nine wickets remaining.

"We've used her all through the tournament like that in terms of bringing her back and trying to break partnerships," he said. "On a really good wicket, that was going to be a really tough ask for her as well. There was obviously no seam movement out there.

"I think those two batters played really, really well there. I mean, Smriti's one of the best batters in the world right now. Georgia's a high-quality player as well. A batter makes a mistake and lets us into the game. They didn't. So, no, I'm really proud of the way the bowling unit's gone for the whole tournament.

"Even with 13 off 8 needed, you bowl a dot ball or two, a batter mishits and you're right in it. So, we knew we still had a chance. But it is horrible to lose in the last over with just a couple of balls to go when the players have poured their heart and soul into it."

Batty wasn't quite sure of the secret sauce DC needed to win a WPL final. "Well, the common denominator is we keep losing," he said with a rueful smile. "I'm really proud. We're obviously doing something really right if we're getting to four finals in a row. I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you keep putting yourself in the finals, you will win one. I thought today was our day. I really did."

Even in defeat, Batty found positives, most notably Nandani Sharma, the uncapped seamer who finished with 17 wickets - the joint-highest in the season with Sophie Devine. "She has been fantastic," he said. "She's been on our radar for a little while. I'm just obviously delighted. From game one, she was full of energy. Her skill was absolutely outstanding. Swinging the new ball, her change-ups, nailing her yorkers at the death, those slower balls into the wicket. She's trained incredibly hard as well all through, since our pre-tournament camp in Goa.

"She has worked really hard on those different elements of her skill delivery through different phases of the game. She's picked my brain. She's picked our bowling coach's brain as well. She's talked to the senior bowlers. She's been talking to Kappy. She wants to learn. She wants to work hard and wants to keep learning. And I'm so proud. She has, for me, been the standout bowler of the tournament."