WPL 2024 Eliminator - Yastika Bhatia, Ellyse Perry & other players to watch in MI vs RCB eliminator

Mumbai Indians opening batter and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia missed the last match due to illness. She will be back in the squad for the WPL 2024 Eliminator, MI batting coach Devieka Palshikar said at the pre-match press conference on March 14, 2024. (Photo: Instagram)

We're nearing the end of the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) tournament. The Delhi Capitals were the first team to qualify for Sunday's final, by dint of their pole position in the WPL 2024 Points Table. Tonight, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore, under the leadership of India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, will face-off for the second spot in the final.

The WPL matches have been on since February 23. Tonight's match is the 21st of 22 WPL 2024 matches. Here's a quick look at which players could make the playing 11 in both MI and RCB.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): 1. Smriti Mandhana (c), 2. Sophie Molineux, 3. Ellyse Perry, 4. Richa Ghosh (wk), 5. Sophie Devine, 6. Georgia Wareham, 7. Shreyanka Patil, 8. Disha Kasat/S Meghana, 9. Shradda Pokharkar, 10. Asha Sobhana, 11. Renuka Singh

Mumbai Indians: 1. Hayley Matthews, 2. Yastika Bhatia (wk), 3. Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4. Harmanpreet Kaur (c), 5. Amelia Kerr, 6. Amanjot Kaur, 7. Pooja Vastrakar, 8. S Sajana, 9. Shabnim Ismail, 10. Humaia Kazi, 11. Saika Ishaque

WPL 2024 Eliminator - Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challenges Bangalore: Team news

MI: Left-hand opener and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia had to sit out the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) last game due to illness, which prompted a promotion for batting allrounder S Sajana, with Priyanka Bala taking the gloves. However, MI batting coach Devieka Palshikar said at the pre-match press conference on Thursday that Bhatia is well-rested and will slot back in to open with Hayley Matthews for Friday’s WPL Eliminator at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India.

RCB: Sophie Molineux, the Australia left-arm spin bowler hasn’t quite set the tournament alight with the bat since earning a promotion to open the batting with fellow left-hand batter Smriti Mandhana at the top in RCB’s last two games. Molineux, 26, made a 30-ball 33 in her first innings as an RCB opener, against the Capitals on Sunday, and a run-a-ball 9 against MI on Tuesday. If RCB decide to tweak their opening order, S Meghana, who opened for them in a number of matches this season and proved far more effective in the position, might make her way back into the XI. Middle-order batting Disha Kasat will have to make her way out in that case.

“Meghana missed out on the last game or two” said RCB coach Luke Williams at the pre-match press conference on Thursday. “We were trying out different combinations. It's going to be a tough decision with her because she played very strongly in a couple of our early wins. She'll be in strong consideration but we'll sit down with stats to figure out the combination today.”

WPL 2024 Eliminator - Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challenges Bangalore: Head to head

MI vs RCB: 3-1. In four encounters between Harmanpreet Kaur’s MI and Smriti Mandhana’s RCB across the two seasons of the WPL, all having come in the round stages so far, RCB got the better of MI only once. And that happened as recently as Tuesday at the ongoing iteration of the five-team competition.

In what was a near-must-win game for RCB to seal their playoffs berth without having to rely on the results of the last remaining league game of WPL 2024, which was played between Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals and Beth Mooney’s Gujarat Giants on Wednesday, RCB thrashed MI by seven wickets with 30 balls to spare. The result was down to a record 6 fo 15 from RCB allrounder Ellyse Perry. The superstar Australia allounder’s match-winning figures were the best wicket haul by any player in WPL history.