🏏WPL 2023 - Mumbai Indians Women vs RCB Women: Match 19 🏏

🏏WPL 2023 - Mumbai Indians Women vs RCB Women: Match 19 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai  on 21/03/23 at 3:30PM IST  🏏

RCB search for consolation win against upbeat Mumbai Indians. Mandhana's side are eliminated, while Harmanpreet's team will want to make final tweaks before knockouts. 5/5 is a stat Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana will likely not forget, for very different reasons, when they look back at this inaugural Women's Premier League season.

Harmanpreet's Mumbai Indians went on an early rampage, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the competition, while the Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore just couldn't find a way to collect their first points. And then, just after the halfway point, the fortunes reversed for both. RCB put in two clinical performances for a late whiff of playoffs qualification while MI, after becoming the first to progress to the knockouts, fumbled. They now have to return to the field in under 24 hours for a must-win game in the race for the top spot.

To stay in the hunt for a direct entry in the WPL 2023 final, that seemed all but guaranteed a week ago, Mumbai will seek to upstage an on-the-up RCB by as significant a margin as possible in the first game of Tuesday's double-header before gluing in to the evening fixture to see where their NRR eventually lands them.

Did Mumbai Indians peak too early? It is a valid question. After a dreamy start irrespective of opponents, pitches, conditions and tosses that haven't gone their way all along, MI were floored by UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals - the two other sides making the knockouts - in successive games at the DY Patil ground.

They were asked to bat first in both those encounters and early dismissals of their top-four exposed their relatively under-tested middle and lower order against two quality bowling units, who incidentally happen to be the best spin and pace attack of the competition respectively. For a side with envious allround depth, this has emerged as the only weak link thus far.

The last two failures notwithstanding, MI captain Harmanpreet (228 runs, 4th) and star opener Hayley Matthews (208 runs, 8th) are still in the 10 highest run-scores while the other two of that in-form quartet at the top - Nat Sciver-Brunt (187 runs, 12th) and Yastika Bhatia (159 runs, 13th) - are just outside of that list. Among the four of them, each made three scores of at least 35 in the five-game unbeaten run, forming the bedrock of Mumbai's early domination, alongside the uncapped left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque, who has been one of the finds of the tournament. Mumbai need all of them to find their mojo once again, and an allround show to snap out of this losing streak of two and give their NRR the requisite push.

If RCB stand eliminated even before taking the field in their last league game, it's down to their sub-standard performances upfront. They conceded two 200+ scores in their first three games and despite sporadic glimpses of their batting might, failed to either put up defendable totals or chase effectively for most part. By the time Sophie Devine showed them the way, RCB had one foot out the door and were only hanging in mathematically. That said, even in their miserable run, the Mandhana-led think-tank unearthed and consistently backed two potential India prospects in Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja, who've both garnered high praise from the star-studded overseas line-up besides the team captain.

On Tuesday, RCB will only play for pride - a consolation win to cap off a tough campaign marked by a gutsy fightback when they hit survival mode.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs Mumbai Indians Women Pitch Report

The pitch at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy is a belter of a track. The ball is expected to come nicely onto the bat and the batters will enjoy batting on this surface. The bowlers will have to hit the right areas to avoid damage.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs Mumbai Indians Women Weather Forecast

Temperatures in Navi Mumbai are expected to range between 24 and 32 degrees Celsius.

Team News

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Given that the pacers have done well here in recent matches, RCB might want to give Renuka Thakur a chance to redeem herself after a punishing season, but also may not be tempted at all to fiddle with their winning combination unless there's last-minute injury/illness concerns.

Probable XI: Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana (C), Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Disha Kasat, Megan Schutt, Asha Shobana, Preeti Bose

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai fielded their strongest, first-choice XI in their loss to DC with the return of Pooja Vastrakar from an undisclosed injury, and would want to back the same unit in the attempt to pick up a massive win that can propel them straight into the final.

Probable XI: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Amelia Kerr, Issy Wong, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs Mumbai Indians Women Match Prediction

The Royal Challengers Bangalore Women have already been knocked out of the competition and will hope that they finish on a high. Mumbai Indians Women will look to get back to winning ways before the knockout stages.

Mumbai Indians look strong on paper and expect them to come out on top.

What they said?

"I'm so used to hearing chants for [Ellyse] Perry and Smriti [Mandhana] and was feeling a bit left out. To hear your name and experience this atmosphere, it will stay with me for a very long time." - Sophie Devine after her 36-ball 99 against Gujarat Giants

"We definitely have to bat well if we want to win the game. We just need to sit and discuss what didn't work the last couple of games and otherwise we do have good players who did really well in the tournament. Sometimes this happens, and I'm actually happy that this [loss] came so that we will not be overconfident. We have to stick to our basics and keep doing the right things." - Harmanpreet Kaur has demanded a better batting show from her side ahead of a crucial last league match

Stats and Trivia

• Saika Ishaque's economy rate is 5.63, the best economy in the tournament so far (minimum 10 overs)

• Devine's batting strike rate against spinners during her 99 off 36 balls was 336.36. She scored 74 runs off 22 balls against spin on the day

• Mumbai's bowlers have taken the most wickets (16) in the powerplay while Royal Challengers bowlers have taken the least (8)

One team comes into this contest having won their last two games, while the other has lost two on the bounce. Until about a week ago, you'd never have thought that Mumbai would be the side arriving on the back of two consecutive defeats.

Such is the competitive nature of the WPL, though, that that is precisely the case today. RCB, meanwhile, have turned things around in the recent past, although their qualification hopes are well and truly over after the UP Warriorz won yesterday.

Nevertheless, there is still plenty to play for, at least from Mumbai's standout. Yesterday's convincing defeat meant that they relinquished top spot to the Delhi Capitals. Both are tied on 10 points, with MI now having an inferior NRR. So, if they are to finish at the top of the table, they have to win today and hope that DC do not better their result.

Let's see what the conditions have in store for us. The pitch is to one side of the square, meaning that there is a shorter boundary (as short as 48m square). This pitch might have good bounce but might be a little slower than the other strips teams have played on at this venue.

Baltej Yadav: "Hope Dane van Niekirk gets a game today. RCB has nothing to lose and Heather Knight has not been stellar." -- To be fair to Knight, she was RCB's highest wicket-taker at one stage and has played a couple of useful cameos in a slightly unfamiliar role.

Mumbai Indians Women opt to bowl

Smriti Mandhana: I think we've been talking about this in the Indian dressing room about her toss-winning abilities. I dind't do anything. We're used to it now in the Indian team but seven in a row might be a record. We were also looking to field first, because we have chased well in the last two games. It looks like a dry pitch and our spinners should get good help in the second half. We are going in with the same eleven.

Harmanpreet Kaur: We are bowling first. I am very happy that we have won the toss today. These things can happen in cricket, sometimes you are doing well and sometimes don’t go well according to you. We have to be strong. Definitely it is very important, we want to finish at the top and play at the finals.