As they reflect on this inaugural Women’s Premier League season, 5/5 is a statistic that Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are unlikely to forget, but for very different reasons.
The Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore struggled mightily to score their first points, while Harmanpreet’s Mumbai Indians quickly established themselves as the team to defeat in the league. Just after the halfway point, the situation for both then turned around.
When MI stumbled after becoming the first team to advance to the knockout rounds, RCB delivered two strong performances to secure a last-minute sniff of playoff qualification. They must now return to the pitch in less than 24 hours for a game that is crucial to winning the championship.
RCB vs MI: Did MI peak too early?
Mumbai will attempt to take out an RCB that is on the rise by as large of an edge as potential in the first game of Tuesday’s double-header before concentrating on the evening game to see where their NRR inevitably spots them in order to keep up their chances of securing an admittance into the WPL 2023 final, which emerged all but certainly likely a week ago.
Have the Mumbai Indians peaked too soon? It is a legitimate inquiry.
The other two teams making it to the final rounds, UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals, upset MI in back-to-back matches at the DY Patil field after MI had a great start against rivals, surfaces, circumstances, and tosses that hadn’t been on their turf throughout the game.
In both of those games, they were given the opportunity to bat first, and the early dismissals of their top four players exposed their relatively inexperienced middle and lower orders to two excellent bowling combinations, which just so happened to be the best spin and pace attacks in the competition, respectively. This has thus far been revealed to be the only weak link for a team with enviable depth all around.
RCB vs MI: MI batters in form despite the last two failures
Despite the last two losses, MI captain Harmanpreet (228 runs, fourth) and star opener Hayley Matthews (208 runs, eighth) are still among the top 10 run scorers, while the other two members of the top four in form, Nat Sciver-Brunt (187 runs, 12th) and Yastika Bhatia (159 runs, 13th), are barely included on that list.
The four of them hit three scores of at least 35 apiece during Mumbai’s five-game unbeaten run, which laid the groundwork for the team’s early supremacy, along with the untested left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque, who was one of the tournament’s discoveries. Mumbai must perform well overall if they are to recapture their mojo, break their two-game losing streak, and raise their NRR.
RCB vs MI: Does RCB stand a chance at qualifying?
If RCB has already been eliminated from the league prior to the game even beginning, it will be due to their subpar front-row performance. In each of their first 3 matches, they allowed two 200+ run innings, and despite rare bursts of batting skill, they mostly struggled to build morally defensible totals or chase effectively.
When Sophie Devine took the lead, RCB had already exited the structure and was only managing to hang on through mathematical means. Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja, two potential Indian prospects, were nonetheless identified and relentlessly fostered by the Mandhana-led think tank, and both have gotten high praise from of the captain of the team and the rest of the stellar international roster.
On Tuesday, RCB will only play for pride, hoping to finish the difficult season with a consolation victory after mounting a valiant comeback when they were in survival mode.
RCB vs MI: What should the audience expect?
Due in large part to MI’s back-to-back collapses, the average first-innings score at the ballpark has steadily decreased. Since the second leg of the competition began, this venue’s pitches have proven friendlier to bowlers than the other two.
RCB vs MI: Team news
RCB
With the pacers’ success here recently, RCB might want to give Renuka Thakur an opportunity to rebound after a trying season, but they might not be tempted at all to change up their winning lineup unless there are last-minute injury or illness worries.
MI
With Pooja Vastrakar returning from an undisclosed ailment, Mumbai fielded their strongest, first-choice XI in their loss to DC. Mumbai will like to support the same unit in the bid to pick up a huge win that can drive them straight into the final.
RCB vs MI: Probable playing XI
RCB
Shreyanka Patil, Disha Kasat, Megan Schutt, Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Smriti Mandhana (C), Ellyse Perry, Asha Shobana, Preeti Bose
MI
Humaira Kazi, Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Issy Wong, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque