Hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have had a dream start to the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) after winning both their matches in contrasting fashions and will look to make it three wins in a row when they take on Delhi Capitals (DC) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
The Smriti Mandhana-led side possesses a galaxy of stars in their batting, that includes herself, Sophie Devine and Ellyse Perry, but the skipper will be the first to admit that it is her side’s bowlers who have played a bigger role in the home team sitting pretty on the points table.
WPL 2024 – FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | POINTS TABLE | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP
Pacer Renuka Singh Thakur has been the side’s Ms Reliable in the Powerplay, giving away nothing to the opposition batters and ensuring that the hosts take the early advantage, either while defending or setting a score.
She has been complemented admirably by the likes of Sophie Molineux, Devine, Shreyanka Patil and Perry and runs from the skipper’s bat and the continuously impressive Sabbhineni Meghana in the match against Gujarat Giants means that RCB go into the fixture high on form and confidence.
READ MORE | UP Warriorz Defeat Mumbai Indians by 7 Wickets to Register Maiden Win of WPL 2024
DC, on the other hand, registered their maiden win of the second season on Monday after defeating the UP Warriorz convincingly by nine wickets to collect their first points of the new season.
Marizanne Kapp’s spell of 3 for 5 in four overs killed all hopes of the Warriorz registering a defendable score on Monday. The other big positive for DC in their win was the bowling of Radha Yadav, who claimed a four-wicket haul to derail the middle and lower-order of the Warriorz.
After a disappointing outing in the tournament opener, Shafali Verma delivered the goods for the side on Monday, with a quickfire half-century that shut the door on the opposition inside the opening 10 overs and runs from the bat of skipper Lanning also meant that DC head into the match with renewed confidence, hoping to inflict the first loss on the hosts.
READ MORE | WPL 2024: RCB Captain Smriti Mandhana Offers Glimpse of What to Expect Before Fading Away Early
The key match-up for both sides on Thursday would be Thakur vs Verma and Lanning and Kapp vs Mandhana and Devine. New-ball bowlers would have heaved a huge sigh of relief as the uneven boundaries at the Chinnaswamy have been neutralised by help in the surfaces, which has meant batters have not necessarily had it easy during the opening exchanges.
Another factor that DC might have to work around with is the crowd at the venue which, to say the least, has been one-sided for the home team matches. Them and the rest of the watching public, however, would hope they get to see a cliffhanger, regardless of the final result on Thursday.
What: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals, Match 7, Women’s Premier League 2024
When: February 29, 2024, 7:30 PM IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Likely playing XIs
After registering victories in each of their previous matches, it is unlikely that neither team would make any changes to their playing XI and put faith on the same group of players who helped them win their second match of the tournament.
RCB: Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh Thakur.
DC: Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey
Comments
0 comment