The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been the home team for the entirety of the Bengaluru leg of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 but on Monday, the Smriti Mandhana-led side will be an away team as they take on the UP Warriorz in the last match of the first leg of the tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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RCB will look to return to winning ways after two consecutive losses to Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. The loss to the latter would have caused greater concern for the women in black and gold as both the batting and the bowling facets failed to put in a combined, clinical performance against the reigning champions.
The form of Sophie Devine and the lack of a gun middle-order batting option remain areas of concern for RCB and Monday presents an opportunity for the side to correct the wrongs and leave Bengaluru for Delhi on a high, ahead of the second leg of the tournament.
The Warriorz, on the other hand, are one of the in-form teams in the tournament. Key players in the overseas contingent such as Grace Harris and Sophie Ecclestone have stood up and delivered on more than one occasion.
They would hope for the likes of Anjali Sarvani to have a profitable outing on Monday to ensure heading into the Delhi leg, they can rely on her to do well in those conditions.
They have found support from the likes of Kiran Navgire in the Indian contingent and that has meant that after losing to RCB in a last-ball thriller in their tournament opener, they head into the fixture with renewed confidence and as the slight favourites.
The big decision they may need to take is whether or not to give Tahlia McGrath an opportunity on Monday. The all-rounder has found the going tough in the tournament so far and was given a breather on Friday, with Chamari Athapaththu getting her WPL debut.
Right through the Bengaluru leg, the crowds at the Chinnaswamy Stadium have made the experience of watching matches more exciting and for one last time on Monday, they would hope to see a thrilling contest between two well-matched sides.
What: UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 11, Women’s Premier League 2024
When: March 4, 2024, 7:30 PM IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Likely playing XIs
With a short turnaround time between playing in Bengaluru and Delhi, RCB might look to play the same XI as Saturday.
RCB: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh.
The Warriorz will want to maintain their winning habit and might look to stick with the same side that beat Gujarat Giants on Friday.
UPW: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat, Poonam Khemnar, Saima Thakor, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
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