Navi Mumbai, Jan 11 (IANS) Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues remained level-headed and constructive while reviewing her team’s 50-run loss against the Mumbai Indians in their first match of the tournament. The captain encouraged her batting unit and believes that this loss is part of a learning process for a fairly new team.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) bounced back within 24 hours of their 2026 WPL season opening loss to seal an emphatic 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. Nat Sciver‑Brunt and captain Harmanpreet Kaur set the tone with authoritative knocks of 70 and 74 not out to guide MI to 195/4. DC’s chase faltered from the outset as their top order collapsed inside the powerplay.

Jemimah pointed out that while the target was well within reach and the bowling effort was encouraging, the batting failed to click due to a lack of partnerships—an area she acknowledged the team will work on going forward.

“Yeah, I think today was one of those games. We were still pretty good with the ball and the target was definitely chaseable, but with the bat we didn’t manage to build partnerships. That’s something we’ll work on. I think today was just one of those days where the partnerships didn’t click,” Jemimah said after the match.

She stated that although the result wasn’t ideal, it doesn’t define the group and supported the strength of the Capitals batting order to bounce back strongly from this defeat.

“It’s a slightly different team from before, so I don’t think we should be too harsh on ourselves or let one game define us as a team. We’ve got a really strong batting line-up and I know we’re going to bounce back.”

Jemimah reflected positively on her captaincy debut and called it special to start a new chapter at her home ground in front of her parents, and she was looking forward to the quick turnaround before the next match, as it presented a chance to reset, avoid overthinking, and immediately respond.

“Captaincy is something I really love, and to be here at my home ground in front of my parents and start a new journey – I think that was really special. Yes, it was a tough start, but as long as you’re learning, you can never really fail. (Quick turnaround with a game tomorrow) I think it is a good thing. It gives us less time to overthink and more time to put this game aside. Good teams do that. One game doesn’t define us, and if we can move on quickly and bounce back tomorrow, that’ll be great for us.”

–IANS

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