Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore – enjoying polar opposite fortunes in the inaugural WPL (Women’s Premier League) – face each other at the DY Patil Stadium here on Monday.
Capitals go into the match after playing a near-perfect game against Gujarat Giants as Marizanne Kapp picked up five wickets while Shafali Verma scored the fastest fifty by an Indian in the tournament.
RCB, however, has endured a woeful campaign in the WPL as its star-studded batting order has failed to fire on almost all occasions and its bowlers, too, have faltered. Ahead of the tournament, RCB looked like a mirror image of its men’s team with big names like Ellyse Perry, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine and Heather Knight in its ranks. But the stars have failed to gel as a unit, suffering four defeats.
Delhi’s top-heavy batting order, featuring the likes of captain Meg Lanning and Shafali, have bulldozed their way through many a bowling attack.
With players putting up exceptional performances with both bat and ball, Delhi will go into the game with an intent to “keep getting better with each match” as rightly put by captain Lanning.
Having lost four matches, RCB has little chance of making the playoffs. Young Shreyanka Patil, whose 15-ball 24 helped RCB put up a respectable 155 against Mumbai Indians, has made people take notice. Her bowling, too, against players of great repute, has earned her praise from all corners. But their star players have been off-colour compared to their performances for their national sides.
They play their match against Delhi Capitals at the D.Y. Patil Stadium, their first at the ground, perhaps hoping for a change in fortune with a change in venue. However, Delhi goes in with the confidence of having beaten them by 60 runs in their earlier encounter and was equally dominating in a 10-wicket win over Gujarat Giants.
While the match-up may seem lopsided, a team playing with nothing to lose has oftentimes shown more gusto and that is what RCB will hope to do against a strong Delhi side.
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