The first reverse fixture of WPL 2024 will see Smriti Mandhana’s Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against Alyssa Healy’s UP Warriorz at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 4, Monday. The toss will take place at 7pm India time and the first ball is scheduled for 7:30pm.
The last time the two teams met, at the same venue, the Royal Challengers clinched a final-ball thriller and registered a two-run victory on March 24. Monday’s fixture will also be the last of WPL 2024 in Bengaluru, as the bandwagon will then move to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, where the remaining 11 matches, including the playoffs, will take place.
WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz: Recent form
After losing their first two matches, the UP Warriorz have staged an impressive turnaround, winning their last two games. First, they defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets and then downed the Gujarat Giants by six wickets.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore, by contrast, have taken the opposite route. After two back-to-back wins, they have suffered two consecutive defeats: against the Delhi Capitals by 25 runs and, most recently, to Mumbai, by seven wickets. As a result, they have slumped to the fourth position on the points table, below the UP Warriorz.
WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz: Players to watch
Chamari Athapaththu, the Sri Lanka captain, made her WPL debut on Friday, as she made her way into the Warriorz XI at the expense of Tahlia McGrath. In her maiden bow in the competition, Athapaththu, 34, bowled her full allocation of four overs, giving away just 19 runs with her offspin; she didn’t pick up any wickets. Later, in Warriorz’s 143 chase, she scored 17, which included four fours, off 11 balls at No. 3, though she opens the batting for Sri Lanka.
Richa Ghosh, the India and Royal Challengers wicketkeeper-batter, struck a superlative 62 off just 37 balls in a winning cause in the Royal Challengers’ season opener. In the two innings she has batted (out of her side’s three subsequent fixtures), the 20-year-old middle-order batter scored 19 and 7. Much of whether the side led by Mandhana can get their campaign back on track before the action moves to Delhi and finish their home stretch on a high, will depend on Ghosh on Monday.
WPL 2024 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz: Squads
UPW: Alyssa Healy (c), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, S. Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia Mcgrath, Dani Wyatt, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana
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 UP Warriorz: Coaches
UPW: Jon Lewis (England)
RCB: Luke Williams (Australia)
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