When Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz face off in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne stadium on Friday, there’s a fair bit at stake.
Both these sides find themselves at different points of the same spectrum. RCB is still licking its wounds after losses in all three games played so far. UP Warriorz had one fantastic win, against the Gujarat Giants, where Grace Harris pulled off a stunning chase but the side has looked a bit unsteady since.
The UP Warriorz setup is in an unenviable position at the moment. The overseas ingredients in this pie are not quite settled yet. Alyssa Healy and Sophie Ecclestone have proven to be undroppable, courtesy captaincy and a good record in India respectively. Tahlia McGrath, who came into the tournament after a lean patch, showed form with an unbeaten 50-ball 90 against the Delhi Capitals. Speedster Shabnim Ismail’s inclusion in the game against the Capitals did not have the desired effect. While she was economical, her fiesty pace could not unsettle the Delhi batting order. Harris ‘ inclusion could have given Warriorz a stronger chance than they gave themselves against Lanning’s team and Ismail might just pave the way for the Aussie’s return to the side, especially against a stacked RCB outfit.
“It’s a nice problem to have, dropping players like Grace. But for us, it’s about the conditions and the match-ups, and we thought we needed some pace upfront. So, Grace is very unlucky. I thought I was going to miss out, but that’s a good problem to have,” McGrath said after that the DC game. But is it, really?
An unsettled lineup is not allowing Healy to work on consistent results, with the side constantly looking for a player to step up and take the game through every time it takes to the field. Healy, herself, needs to find a way to stick around beyond the powerplay to build a platform for the Warriorz to take off from. McGrath coming good bodes well for her and the side as it steadies up a slightly inconsistent middle order for the girls in yellow and purple.
A problem area for UP is Deepti Sharma. As is the case in international fixtures off late, Deepti has been finding it hard to get going from the word go with the bat. Her role down the order requires smart batting and keeping the run rate healthy but she has struggled in that mould for much of this tournament. Against DC, she made a laborious 20-ball 12, adding to a 16-ball 11 vs the Giants.
UP is up against an RCB lineup that has firepower till Megan Schutt at no.9. Deepti has not been the ace with the ball either. In two games, she has just two wickets but has given away 67 runs in her eight overs. For India she was a potent new ball option, something UP does not have and could use.
Royal Challengers are not without issues themselves but are the more assured batting lineup of the two teams. All eyes though are on skipper Smriti Mandhana who seems to be carrying the world’s weight on her shoulders after three discouraging losses.
“Sometimes as captain, you take it all on your shoulders. We are trying to wrap around Smriti. We have a lot of captaincy experience in this team and it’s about finding the balance between not wanting to give her too much information and having too many voices but also making sure she has an ear to listen and bounce ideas off of. This is an awesome opportunity for her to explore her captaincy. You don’t feel a sense of panic around her and that’s a great trait to have as a captain and I hope we can get a win for her,” Sophie Devine said after RCB’s 11-run loss to the Giants.
Smriti has just 80 runs in the three games and will want to go deep with Devine to put UP under pressure. RCB has the firepower in its batting to handle a chase but one talent they will want to utilise better is Shreyanka Patil. The spin-bowling all-rounder has been fearless with her shots when she takes to the field and could be just what RCB needs to keep the runs coming when in a sticky situation.
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