Royal Challengers Bangalore will face a stiff challenge to maintain its winning run when it faces Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Royal Challengers, led by Smriti Mandhana, have gotten off to a perfect start, winning both its games, against UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants, in front of a roaring home crowd.
While it defeated Warriorz by two runs in a last-ball thriller, Giants proved to be an easy opponent, losing by eight wickets with 45 balls left.
Mandhana had previously struggled with the bat, but her morale-boosting 43 off 27 against Giants would provide some comfort to the team management. Her opening partner, Sophie Devine, must maintain consistency in the top order.
Devine, RCB’s highest run-getter in WPL 2023, has had two poor outings with the bat. However, her (4-0-12-0) absorbing spell in the PowerPlay against Giants relieved some of the pressure on the New Zealand all-rounder.
S. Meghana appears very settled in her No. 3 position. She has shown she could be the perfect candidate for an anchor’s role in the team. Meanwhile, Ellyse Perry scored an unbeaten 23 in the last game, providing solidity to the middle-order.
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But the biggest positive for RCB would be its exciting bowling line-up which consists of Renuka Singh Thakur, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Asha Sobhana.
The incisive attack accounted for 67 dot deliveries in the match against Giants, restricting a batting line-up which featured the likes of Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner and Dayalan Hemalatha to 107 in 20 overs.
As for Capitals, their batting got a boost after Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma returned to form. The pair added 119 runs for the opening wicket against Warriorz, helping DC chase down the total in just 14.3 overs.
Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues and Annabel Sutherland make a formidable middle-order for DC.
Marizanne Kapp has been exceptional with the new ball for DC, causing problems for opposing batters with her ability to swing the ball both ways. Arundhati Reddy’s variations in pace also complement Kapp’s bowling.
The left-arm spinner Radha Yadav’s four-wicket haul against Warriorz adds depth to DC’s bowling attack.
Moreover, Tania Bhatia and Minnu Mani are yet to get their chances in the middle.
With the surface at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium turning into a batter’s heaven in the second innings, the toss plays a crucial role. Teams batting second have won four out of five games in WPL 2024 so far.
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