WPL 2024 Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals: Date, venue and time

Shafali Verma's 43-ball 64 was the cornerstone of the Delhi Capitals’ 119 opening stand with Meg Lanning, and the side’s successful 120 chase against the UP Warriorz on February 26 (Monday). (Images via X/@wplt20)

Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals will face current table toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore in the seventh match of WPL 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, February 29. The toss will take place at 7pm India time and the first ball is scheduled for 7:30pm.

WPL 2024 RCB vs DC: Recent form, position on WPL Points Table

The Delhi Capitals are currently placed third, behind the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, having won and lost a game apiece. A win over the Royal Challengers could see them displace Mumbai on the second spot or even leapfrog to No. 1, given the Capitals’ strong net run-rate, which they earned by handing the UP Warriorz a nine-wicket defeat in their previous game.

The Royal Challengers, meanwhile, will look to bolster their position atop the points table by winning a third straight game. Their WPL 2024 campaign got off to a dream start as they won their opening match by two runs against the Warriorz before consigning the Gujarat Giants to an eight-wicket defeat. Their run of form this season has been a far cry from that in the inaugural iteration, where they suffered five consecutive defeats at the start of their campaign.

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals: Players to watch

Royal Challengers captain Smriti Mandhana struck 47 in the game against the Giants, her highest in the WPL. The opener’s 27-ball innings featured eight fours and a six and gave a glimpse into the Mandhana of yore, her crackling pulls a throwback to her peak years of 2018 and 2019 in particular. The Royal Challengers, as much as their mammoth fanbase, would hope Mandhana is able to add more consistency to her fluency – a combination that could change the complexion of the side’s batting prowess.

Mandhana’s opening partner in the Indian side, Shafali Verma, who opens for the Capitals, too, turned in a sizzling performance with the bat in their last game, against the Warriorz. Her 43-ball 64 was the cornerstone of Capitals’ 119 opening stand with Meg Lanning, and the side’s successful 120 chase. On the top of the Royal Challengers’ agenda would be to remove both Verma and Lanning early in the innings, for their tandem has a propensity to notch up big partnerships when they get going.

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals: Squads

DC: Meg Lanning (c), Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey, Laura Harris, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia, Minnu Mani, Sneha Deepthi, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Aparna Mondal, Aswani Kashyap

RCB: Smriti Mandhana (c), Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Nadine de Klerk, Indrani Roy, Shradda Pokharkar, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Ekta Bisht, Shubha Satheesh, S Meghana, Simran Bahadur, Sophie Molineux

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals: Coaches

DC: Jonathan Batty (England)

RCB: Luke Williams (Australia)