TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsThe final league stage game for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will have more than just two points up for grabs. The former will want to get another win to ensure a direct qualification to their second WPL final, and the latter will want a win to ensure that they go through to the playoffs by virtue of being in the top three.
Given that RCB have never defeated MI in the WPL, this will not be easy. Even more so after the kind of game they had against Delhi Capitals on Sunday (March 10). Richa Ghosh’s pyrotechnics with the bat got her team close but it wasn’t enough.
Mumbai, on the other hand, pulled off a heist against bottom-dwellers Gujarat Giants in their previous fixture, when Harmanpreet Kaur came up with a knock for the ages. Needing 91 of the last six overs, the Mumbai skipper scored 75 of her last 27 deliveries to help her team chase a mammoth 190 with a ball to spare.
Things to watch out for
RCB’s opening duo
Having dropped S. Meghana in the last game, most people would have expected RCB to go back to Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine as their openers.
Much to everyone’s surprise, they instead had Sophie Molineux facing the new ball alongside Mandhana. The fact that two LHBs opened allowed Meg Lanning to start the innings with an off-spinner from one end.
The end result was that Alice Capsey managed to trap Smriti in front of the stumps, very similar to how she’d been dismissed by Ashleigh Gardner in RCB’s previous game against Gujarat Giants.
Smriti’s struggles against off-spin is now a secret everyone is privy to. However, she seemed to have worked on it in 2024, having figured out a way to not just survive but also thrive against them. Sophie herself struggled to maximize the field restrictions or rotate the strike, and ended the powerplay scoring seven runs off nine balls.
Devine might not be in the greatest of form currently, but RCB would be better off with her at the top along with Mandhana. Devine herself has struggled against pacers this season, and the duo could complement each other while playing in the powerplay.
Mumbai batters have complemented each other well
MI’s top-order have been at their best throughout this season. Despite the odd hiccup, they’ve been aided by the different players who’ve raised their hands at different times to help the team cross the line.
Further, their batters have helped each other by way of their favorable strengths. Openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews have been impressive against pace, while Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr have done well against spin. And this is how they’ve complemented each other well.
Against a misfiring RCB bowling attack, they will be hoping that the batters once again have each other’s backs while taking on the struggling Reds in their last league game of this season.
RCB’s bowling in the powerplay
After the way Renuka Singh started this WPL, it seemed like Bangalore had sorted their issues from last season. But RCB’s performance with the ball has tapered off, along with Renuka’s own showing.
The move to Delhi has particularly exacerbated this issue. They’re yet to take a wicket in the powerplay in the last two games and average an eye-watering 67.6 runs/wicket with the new ball.
RCB’s lack of new ball options could force them to stick to the same names once again. With a playoff spot on the line, can RCB’s bowlers get their act together?
Ground details
Five of the six WPL games played in Delhi have seen the toss-winning side opt to bat first. And they’ve been proven right in four of those games.
Spinners have enjoyed bowling here more than pacers, and have accounted for 65% of all dismissals at the Arun Jaitley stadium. Even when it comes to run scoring, batters have found it harder to score against spin compared to pace. Spinners have gone at 8.1 RPO compared to the 8.6 RPO that pacers have conceded.
Tactical insights
Harmanpreet Kaur is fresh off a match-winning performance in her previous game, and would love to do a repeat of the same against RCB. Ellyse Perry will be an obstacle she will have to overcome, with the marquee all-rounder having dismissed the India skipper six times in 24 innings.
Perry with the bat in hand has not had the greatest of times against Nat Sciver-Brunt and Shabnim Ismail. The right-hander strikes at just 90 and averages just 20.7 against the experienced international duo.
One bowler Nat Sciver-Brunt has struggled to get going against is Georgia Wareham. In nine innings against the leg-spinner, Sciver-Brunt averages a dismal 5.3 while striking at 71.
Probable XIs
Mumbai Indians: Yastika Bhatia (WK), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, S. Sajana, Humaira Kazi, Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (C), Sophie Devine, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Shradda Pokharkar, Renuka Thakur
