🏏WPL 2024: Match 2: RCB W vs UP Warriorz W🏏

🏏WPL 2024: Match 2: RCB W vs UP Warriorz W at Bengaluru on 24/02/2024 at 7:30PM IST  🏏

The first weekend clash of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) will witness the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on the UP Warriorz (UPW) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Led by Smriti Mandhana, they had quite an underwhelming inaugural season in 2023, finishing fourth and quite far from the top three sides of the competition. The franchise have made a significant change to their coaching staff, replacing Ben Sawyer with Luke Williams during the off-season.

The UP Warriorz, on the other hand, had a solid first season, qualifying for the Eliminator before being defeated by eventual champions Mumbai Indians. They have made a couple of changes to their personnel, and have been bolstered by the inclusions of Danni Wyatt and Chamari Athapaththu in particular.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs UP Warriorz Women Pitch Report

The pitch report at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium for the match between RCB and UPW will be broadcast live before the toss takes place. Bengaluru hosted a match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians last night, where almost 350 runs were scored in 40 overs. Fans can expect another high-scoring encounter tonight.Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs UP Warriorz Women Weather Forecast

The weather is expected to be clear with periodic clouds during tonight's WPL 2024 match in Bengaluru. The temperature will be around 25 degrees Celsius, while the humidity levels will be in the range of 75%. There is no chance of rain in the city tonight.

After a blockbuster start to the competition on the opening night, it is now time for match number 2 of the 2024 Women's T20 League, which sees Bangalore take on UP at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. UP, led by Alyssa Healy, had a remarkable maiden season where they qualified for the playoffs by finishing third. However, they were unable to go all the way as their campaign was brought to an end in the Eliminator by the eventual champions, Mumbai. Considering the kind of season they had, they have shown faith in the Indian contingent by retaining the likes of Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Anjali Sarvani, and Kiran Navgire.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs UP Warriorz Women Match Prediction

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women started slowly last season but eventually finished fourth in the points table. UP Warriorz, on the other hand, attained the third spot but were inconsistent throughout. Both teams bolstered their respective squads at the auction ahead of WPL 2024.

RCB

Bangalore did not have a great inaugural season, winning only 2 of their 8 games to finish second-from-bottom in the points table. Smriti Mandhana will be eager to lead her side to new heights. Bangalore have kept its Indian core intact by retaining Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil, Richa Ghosh, and Disha Kasat. They have added depth to their batting unit by adding Sabbhineni Meghana and Satheesh Shubha. As far as the overseas contingent is concerned, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine will don the Bangalore colours for the second time running. Kate Cross, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, and Nadine de Klerk are the new overseas additions to the Smriti Mandhana-led unit as they look to turn their fortunes around this season. In the 2023 Women's T20 League, if it was UP who came out on top in the first meeting, Bangalore returned the favour the next time these two sides met. Although both teams appear formidable on paper, the true test awaits on the field. Who will kick off their campaign with a winning start?

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Sabbhineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh(w), Shreyanka Patil, Sobhana Asha, Simran Bahadur, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Renuka Thakur Singh, Disha Kasat, Nadine de Klerk, Ekta Bisht, Sophie Molineux, Indrani Roy, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokharkar

UP Warriorz Squad: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Parshavi Chopra, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Saima Thakor, Laxmi Yadav, Danielle Wyatt, Soppadhandi Yashasri, Poonam Khemnar

Match: RCBW vs UPW, 2nd Match, Womens Premier League 2024

Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Umpires: Abhijit Bhattacharya, N Janani

Third Umpire: Parashar Joshi

Match Referee: Rajni Basnet

Batters To Watch(recent stats)

Sophie Devine,  RCB-W

8 M • 266 Runs • 33.25 Avg • 172.72 SR

Ellyse Perry,  RCB-W

8 M • 253 Runs • 42.17 Avg • 123.41 SR

Tahlia McGrath,  UPW-W

9 M • 302 Runs • 50.33 Avg • 158.11 SR

Alyssa Healy,  UPW-W

9 M • 253 Runs • 31.63 Avg • 141.34 SR

Bowlers To Watch(recent stats)

Shreyanka Patil,  RCB-W

7 M • 6 Wkts • 9.85 Econ • 19.5 SR

Sobhana Asha,  RCB-W

5 M • 5 Wkts • 8.35 Econ • 20.4 SR

Sophie Ecclestone,  UPW-W

9 M • 16 Wkts • 6.62 Econ • 13.31 SR

Deepti Sharma,  UPW-W

9 M • 9 Wkts • 8.87 Econ • 23.22 SR

Head-to-Head Record

Matches Played 2

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women won 1

UP Warriorz Women won 1