Lanning Urges UPW to Adapt Fast After Loss Dents WPL 2026 Playoff Hopes

In Thursday's clash, UPW lost wickets in a heap to be bowled out for 108 in 17.3 overs, as their two-match winning streak was snapped by a spirited GG. "It is more about the bounce than anything else. It is just not bouncing as much as it did in Navi Mumbai. It doesn't mean you can't score.

"There's still pace on the wicket, you just have to work out how to use it, and what shots are effective for you individually because everybody does play differently. It's certainly a wicket you could score on. You just have to adapt and assess the conditions quickly," said Meg in the post-game press conference.

She felt that lack of good partnerships was a big reason behind UPW's sloppy batting show. "I think with the ball we had some really good patches. We probably got ourselves into a really good position and probably didn't finish it off. We created chances but probably didn't take them as much as we would have liked, but that happens.

"We could have probably restricted them a little bit more had we taken our chances, but we were still chasing 150. I think if we get some good partnerships together and our sort of top order bat for a little bit longer, I think we can definitely chase that down.

"So the conditions are definitely different here than what they were in Mumbai, but that doesn't mean you can't score; you've just got to find a different way to do it and adapt to the conditions, and the players who have done that have been able to be successful. So certainly some really good learnings in there for us heading into the next couple of games," added Lanning.

With UPW now at the bottom of the points table, Meg is hoping the time to refigure their plans ahead of the clash against an already qualified Royal Challengers Bengaluru on January 29 will help them get into top three.

"It would have been nice to obviously get the win to have sort of the playoffs in our hands a little bit more, but that's the way it goes. We still hope we're in it when we play next, we want to win those couple of games and give ourselves a chance, hopefully.

"So we will switch off over the next couple of days; I think that's important. But we'll certainly come back to training after a few days and really focus on what we can keep improving and do well and then when we come back, I think it's RCB our next game; we obviously will need to win that. So we'll throw everything at them that we can and hopefully we can put out a good performance," she concluded.

- IANS