The forthcoming match no. 7 of the ongoing 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) will feature a face-off between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals. The match will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on the 29th of February 2024, at 7:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).
While the Challengers have registered back-to-back wins, the Capitals suffered an upsetting final-ball defeat in the curtain raiser; however, they registered their first win of the season in the following game. The game promises to be a cracker with two of the best teams set to take the field.
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Smriti Mandhana (C), Ekta Bisht, Georgia Wareham*, Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Molineux*, Shradda Pokharkar, Richa Ghosh, Kate Cross*, Nadine de Klerk*, Shubha Satheesh, Sabbhineni Meghana, Indrani Roy, Asha Shobana, Ellyse Perry*, Simran Dil Bahadur, Disha Kasat, Renuka Singh Thakur, Sophie Devine*
Delhi Capitals – Meg Lanning* (C), Marizanne Kapp*, Aparna Mondal, Sneha Deepthi, Alice Capsey*, Titas Sadhu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Ashwani Kumari, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia, Laura Harris*, Shikha Pandey, Jess Jonassen*, Poonam Yadav, Annabel Sutherland*
Players to watch out:
Smriti Mandhana
The 27-year-old opening batter struggled to convert her starts, accumulating 149 runs from 8 WPL appearances last season. In the lead-up to the WPL, against Australia in T20Is, Smriti registered scores of 54, 23, and 29, and has carried forward the momentum into this tournament, notching up a 27-ball 43 in her most recent outing. It’ll be hoped she makes the most of this start.
Sophie Molineux
The 26-year-old all-rounder ahead of this WPL, in Australia’s One-Day competition, from 6 outings scored 167 runs and bagged 17 wickets, with respective bests of 62 and 6/45. Sophie made her WPL debut with the Royals this season and has made an instant impact, returning figures of 1/36 and 3/25. She can also be handy with the bat and will be counted on to deliver all-round efforts.
Meg Lanning
The 31-year-old top-order batter, striking at 139.11, amassed 345 runs, including the highest of 72, from 9 WPL outings last edition. Meg was in sublime touch in Australia’s One-Day competition, scoring 492 runs, with the highest of 82*, from 10 games, and continuing her form, she has registered successive scores of 31 and 51 this tournament. It’ll be expected of her to lead the scoring yet again.
Arundhati Reddy
The 26-year-old pacer didn’t find much success in the ’23 WPL; however, on the back of a domestic season during which she impacted by scoring big runs and also being amongst wickets, she has looked a touch different this season and is spearheading the unit. Arundhati has registered figures of 2/27 and 1/16 from her couple of outings this WPL and will be relied upon for the goods.
Pitch:
The average score in the 150s indicates favorable conditions for scoring runs as batters benefit from even bounce, allowing them to display their stroke play effectively. With the ball, pacers find assistance on this lively track and can make early inroads.
Weather:
With partly cloudy skies and a low chance of rain, the conditions are pleasant for cricket. The temperature is forecasted to hover around 25°C, with light winds and a humidity level of 32%.
Fantasy playing XI:
Richa Ghosh, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp, Sophie Devine, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey, Sophie Molineux, Asha Shobana, Annabel Sutherland
Match details:
Date – February 29, 2024
Time – 7:30 PM IST
Venue – Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Broadcast – The game will be live-streamed on FanCode and telecasted on Sports18.
