RCB Women look to open up their WPL campaign on a winning note with a stellar showing against the Delhi Capitals

In less than 24 hours from now, the Royal Challengers Bangalore women will clash against the Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium to kickstart their campaign in WPL 2023. In what is supposed to be a swashbuckling showstopper, the two teams will try and get their wheels rolling in the right direction with a victorious start.

With a side that has some big names waiting to come forth, RCB will be banking upon the likes of Smriti Mandhana, their captain, followed by Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Richa Ghosh to deliver the payload with the bat in their hands. Talking about their bowling strength, they can also fall back on big names like seamers Renuka Singh and Megan Schutt.

Yet, the presence of exciting young names can very well be the defining factor for the Challengers, considering the varied skillsets and unpredictability that they bring to the table.

Led by Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals will be pinning their hopes on India internationals Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma, while South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp will also have a huge role to play with bat and ball. They have a quality bowling attack too, headlined by India seamer Shikha Pandey and left-arm spinners Jess Jonassen and Radha Yadav. 

With everything to play for in both the teams’ opening clash of the WPL, expect a thrilling encounter on the cards. 

Venue Watch:

A total of 11 T20 matches have been played at the venue that have featured women of different countries going head on against each other. 5 of them have been won batting first while 6 have been won, chasing. The average first innings score so far is 165 while the average second innings score is 150. The highest runs recorded in this ground by women is 209 while the highest score chased has been 199.

Key player battles:

Smriti Mandhana vs Jess Jonassen

Smriti has been the forebearer of batting excellence in women’s cricket, leading the charge for India in recent times. Despite a reticent World Cup, she managed to register her career best in the tournament, numbers that would uplift her spirit. Jess Jonassen, on the other hand, has been an impressive performer in women’s cricket and with the kind of armament that she comes to the fore with, it is going to be everything but listless to see these two collide.

Ellyse Perry vs Marizanne Kapp

When it comes to big names in cricket, these two can leave others reeling behind by the proverbial mile. In a battle of the two phenomenal all-rounders, it will be interesting to see who takes the front yard while the other tries to throw in a spanner in the works. Two game-changers in the mix and most importantly, two phenomena of women’s cricket will go head-on against each other as the campaign kicks off.

Renuka Singh Thakur vs Shafali Verma

Renuka has been making the ripples for all the right reasons of late as she brings in her eclectic brand of medium pace with a keen eye for timbre. More importantly, she has a phenomenal discipline that makes life pretty difficult in terms of trying to open up with the big hits. Shafali Verma can exactly do what Renuka has so far, put a stopper on in terms of women’s cricket. A decent all-rounder and more importantly, with a predilection for striking the cherry pretty hard, Shafali vs Renuka makes an iconic match-up for both sides.

Match Details:

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals

Venue: Brabourne Stadium

Date: 5th March, 2023

Time: 3:30 PM IST

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Smriti Mandhana (C), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Erin Burns, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Heather Knight, Dane van Niekerk, Preeti Bose, Poonam Khemnar, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar

Delhi Capitals:

Meg Lanning (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Marizanne Kapp, Titas Sadhu, Alice Capsey, Laura Harris, Jasia Akhter, Minnu Mani, Tara Norris, Taniyaa Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Jess Jonassen, Sneha Deepthi, Aparna Mondal, Arundhati Reddy