In what has been one of the most evenly contested rivalries in the WPL, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look to get off to a thrilling start against UP Warriorz (see head-to-head below).
After an exciting last-ball triumph over the reigning champions Mumbai Indians on opening night, thanks to Nadine de Klerk’s finishing masterpiece, RCB will advance with a lot of momentum. However, Ellyse Perry’s absence from this season owing to personal reasons and a new injury postponing Pooja Vastrakar’s eagerly awaited return put a strain on their batting. Although it didn’t last long in the game, the new starting combination of captain Smriti Mandhana and Grace Harris was an immediate success. However, RCB’s batting performance was lacking due to up to two setbacks to what would have been their best lineup.
They did discover a new hero, though, as they were reeling at 65/5 in a poor chase against MI. At the DY Patil Stadium, De Klerk had unfinished business. When the squad required 18 off four balls to pull off the unimaginable, she demonstrated her finishing ability with a 6,4,6,4 sequence against the seasoned Nat Sciver-Brunt. The batting demands an instant examination, even though the bowling matchups weren’t performed well either.
UP Warriorz will be looking for their first points on Monday, while RCB scored in a dramatic way. After losing to the Gujarat Giants by a slim margin of 10 runs, they were left biting their wounds. UPW demonstrated amazing perseverance to achieve 197, surpassing the tournament record target of 208 thanks to a superb 78 from Phoebe Litchfield. The fearsome bowling staff is also under scrutiny after giving up more than 200 runs, even though their batting performance was strong despite the collective failure of Indian hitters. None of the other five bowlers used gave up less than 9.7 RPO, with the exception of Sophie Ecclestone, who was the best bowler with 2/32.
When: Monday, January 12 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
What to expect: Another flat surface and conditions feasible for a high-scoring encounter.
Head to head: RCB 3-3 UPW
Team News
Royal Challengers Bangalore: There’s often little reason to tamper a winning combination but RCB may need to beef up their batting.
Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana (C), Georgia Voll/Linsey Smith, D Hemalatha, Grace Harris, Richa Ghosh, Nadine de Klerk, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Prema Rawat, Lauren Bell
UP Warriorz:Despite the loss, UPW will likely back the same XI that’s their strongest on paper.
Probable XI:Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (C), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Deandra Dottin, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Shikha Pandey, Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana, Kranti Gaud
