It’s game day at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium for one final time in season three of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and for the home team RCB, it turns out to be their last dance to turn the tables around after a shockingly winless streak in the Bengaluru leg.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the Challengers have crumbled under pressure in all three of their home matches, leaving fans dejected. But their task tonight couldn’t be tougher—they face the table-toppers and in-form Delhi Capitals who would look to rampage and steamroll an under-confident RCB unit.
With every game now carrying immense importance for the race to the knockouts, RCB cannot afford another blip in their performance.
Their batting has been a major letdown, with only Ellyse Perry standing tall in the lineup, while Smriti Mandhana has blown in hot and cold patches. Against a sheer competitive Delhi group, RCB will need a miraculous team effort – much that has not been evident since the start of the second leg of the competition.
The army in Red-And-Gold need a team brilliance to give some comfort and respite to the 12th Man Army as they bid adieu to their home venue after today’s game in Bengaluru.
“It’s always nice to have the chance to play pretty quickly again and so it would be really nice to have one more chance to play in front of our home crowd and I hope we can do everyone really proud,” said Ellyse Perry ahead of Match 14 of the Women’s Premier League.
Perry has been nothing short of a saviour for the batting line-up of RCB this season, single-handedly dominating the opposition and taking the bowlers to the cleaners. With 235 runs in just five innings at a staggering average of 78.53 and a blistering strike rate of 156.66, she has been the lone warrior in a situation where other batters have been out of touch.
For Perry, personal milestones will mean little unless the team can find a way to turn their fortunes around. As they gear up for their final home game, the team will desperately hope that others can finally step up alongside their talismanic all-rounder.
“We’d really love to give the crowd a win. The first two games were quite close, and Delhi is a great team as they have got some wonderful players, and it is a perfect chance for us. We’ll have to play our best cricket, we’ve done that already in this tournament and it would be really nice to find that again against such a great side,” said Ellyse Perry.
A win for the Challengers today could do them a world of good in shifting the pendulum back in their favour, while a defeat would add more hurdles to a road that has already been full of obstacles in the past week.
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