WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants: Date, venue and time

Gujarat Giants captain Beth Mooney (left) and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana will face off in New Delhi on March 6.

The 13th match of the WPL will see the third-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Smriti Mandhana, take on the bottom-placed Gujarat Giants, who are captained by Beth Mooney. The toss will take place at 7pm India time and the first ball is scheduled for 7.30pm.

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants: Recent form and previous encounter

The Royal Challengers are coming off a hard-fought 23-run victory against the UP Warriorz in what was the last game of WPL 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The winless Giants, meanwhile, slumped to their fourth straight loss of the season, with the Delhi Capitals handing them a 25-run drubbing.

The last time the two sides met, a combined five wickets from left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux and swing bowler Renuka Singh, who was adjudged Player of the Match for her 2 for 22, limited the Giants to a sub-par 107 for 7. Mandhana’s 43 and an unbeaten 36 and 23 from S Meghana and Ellyse Perry, respectively, helped the Royal Challengers overhaul the target inside 13 overs. They won the match by eight wickets.

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants: Players to watch out for

Smriti Mandhana has made 80, 9, 74 and 43 so far in the WPL and held the Orange Cap for being the leading run-scorer in the tournament twice this season already. Her fluency at the top will continue to be pivotal to the Royal Challengers’ chances of finishing in the top three as the season inches closer to its business end.

In the Giants’ last game, swing bowler Meghna Singh became the first Indian pacer to pick up four wickets at the WPL. In what’s been a far-from-ideal season so far for the Giants, Meghna’s five wickets in four innings, especially her control and efficacy with the new ball, has been a bright spot. Against the Royal Challengers, the Mithali Raj-mentored side will rely on early breakthroughs from the 29-year-old quick.

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants: Squads

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

GG: Beth Mooney (c), Ashleigh Gardner, D. Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, M.D. Shabnam, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Trisha Poojitha, Sayali Satghare, Priya Mishra, Kathryn Bryce, Mannat Kashyap, Veda Krishnamurthy, Tarannum Pathan, Lea Tahuhu

WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants: Coaches

GG: Michael Klinger  (Australia)

RCB: Luke Williams (Australia)