🏏WPL 2026: Match 18: RCB W vs UP W at Vadodara on 29/01/26🏏 - Page 2

A must-win game of UP Warriorz, can they make an impact or will RCB end their chances to go through to the playoffs?

Thanks for the thread Madhu!

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Big picture - Whose WPL is it anyway?

In a WPL season that's proving to be the most competitive for the remaining two knockouts spots since Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) qualified about 10 days ago, none of the other four teams is staying at the bottom of the table for too long nor are they putting up enough wins in a row to book the other two berths.

To add to the uncertainty, RCB have lost two in a row since sealing their knockouts spot, and their next opponent UP Warriorz (UPW) have lost their most prolific batter of this WPL - Phoebe Litchfield - to an injury. For Thursday, the odds are still in favour of RCB, who have a full-strength side at their disposal but must be feeling the jitters after being bundled for their lowest WPL score by Delhi Capitals (DC) before being reduced to 35 for 5 by Mumbai Indians (MI). While Richa Ghosh's 90 off 50 ensured their net run rate didn't take a massive beating and remains the best on the points table, their top five needs to click again on the Vadodara tracks to ensure they don't end the league stage with three losses on the bounce.

UPW are at the other end of the spectrum, all in terms of points, net run rate and their qualification chances because even winning their remaining two games won't ensure a knockouts spot for them. The injury to Litchfield couldn't have come at a worse time for UPW, who are relying heavily on their overseas recruits for runs, yet again. They had started to turn their season around with two emphatic wins against MI, but they ran out of steam early in a chase of 154 against Gujarat Giants (GG) to slip to the bottom. Their four-pronged spin attack could be one of the toughest to face on the slower tracks in Vadodara but it's their Indian batters who need to put their hand up to take some of the load off players like Meg Lanning, Chloe Tryon and Litchfield's replacement on Thursday.

Team news

RCB

RCB may not feel the need to tinker with their side to get their A game right before the knockouts.

UPW

UPW's options to replace Litchfield in the XI are Deandra Dottin, Charlie Knott and Amy Jones, who has joined the squad and is available to play, among overseas names and G Trisha and Simran Shaikh from the Indian options. Will they extend the rope for Kiran Navgire at the top is a big question, given her average of 2.66 from all six games, having lasted just 24 balls in all.

In the spotlight:

Harleen Deol has had a quiet couple of outings since her sequence of being retired out followed by a Player-of-the-Match performance in Navi Mumbai. With Litchfield gone and a new batter set to enter the XI, Deol will have to step up as a senior batter to keep UPW's chances alive. Whether a slow pitch or a batter-friendly one on Thursday, she has shown all gears of the game this WPL to steer her team as an anchor and an enforcer and may have to repeat it against RCB.

Grace Harris last had an impactful innings in this tournament against UPW, and she has since been dismissed cheaply for 15, 9, 1, 1 and 17. Most of those came against the swinging ball early on and at times when the ball came on her bat slower in Vadodara. RCB might have given her the licence to go bang, bang but they may also want some runs from her to not leave most of the run-scoring at the top for Smriti Mandhana.

Key stats

• Meg Lanning against Shreyanka Patil is a contest to watch out for. In the WPL, Shreyanka has got Lanning three times while conceding just 13 runs in 15 balls across four innings.
• Smriti Mandhana had fallen to an offspinner again in the last game. Against UPW's offspinner Deepti Sharma, Mandhana has scored just 18 runs off 20 balls while being dismissed three times.

Pitch and conditions

Vadodara finally saw some runs with MI nearly getting to 200 and then 175 nearly being chased down on Tuesday night by DC against GG. It's possible the games there will get to see more runs as the knockouts approach. All 17 games so far have seen teams opting to chase mainly because of dew.

Previous meeting

These two teams met over two weeks ago, when RCB had hammered UPW by nine wickets in chase of 144. Grace Harris has not crossed 20 since that game in five attempts.

WPL 2026 scenarios

If UPW is aiming for a playoffs spot, they must win remaining two games, but it still won't be easy to qualify as their net run rate is the worst among all teams.

Most likely, two of GG, MI and DC likely to make the playoffs.

18:40 Local Time, 13:10 GMT, 18:40 IST: We're into Match 18 of this season's WPL and it pits two teams who've to win for different reasons. For UP Warriorz, the equation is simple - win both games with margins and then hope that Gujarat Giants do them a favour by ousting Mumbai Indians in their last match. Else, they'll have to hope that the net run-rate is good enough to pip either of their opponents to the Eliminator. On the other hand, RCBW will be desperate to halt a two-match losing streak and go into the final with confidence on their back. Having won 5 on the trot and ensured a playoff berth, Smriti Mandhana's team has suffered two losses on the bounce and questions are being asked if they've peaked far too early. The bowlers allowed MIW to race away to a massive score in the last game while the batters floundered twice in a row. Grace Harris hasn't got runs on the board barring one game, Georgia Voll and Gautami Naik have been patchy at best and the pressure has got to the middle-order. Tonight is their last match before the playoffs - they almost have one foot directly in the final - can they lock the spot and go into next Thursday's final on a high?

It's pitch number 7 and it's a surface that RCB knows very well. They haven't won any game here yet, but pitch number 7 is where they got just over 100 against the Delhi Capitals as a team. Things change though. Against the Mumbai Indians, that epic Nat Sciver-Brunt 100 right here, where Mumbai nearly posted 200. I think because the wicket is pretty hard. There's a little bit of grass in the crack. Having said that, it's still a good wicket to bat. What we've picked up is that pace off deliveries is a go-to option for the faster bowlers, especially towards the end of the innings. Nearly 40% of pace off deliveries. We're seeing more wickets fall to it and therefore, is that going to be the order of the day for the bowlers? We've seen that a lot of fast bowlers have used back of the line and pace off deliveries, but the length becomes very important. If it is more fuller, then there is a possibility of wickets. We've seen how effective that has been where the batters have to really dig deep to get that elevation going for big shots. If you ball anything a little shorter, then they get time enough to play the scoops and reverse sweeps, which we have seen that has gone for boundaries, reckons Mithali Raj, in her pitch report.

RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first.