Having set the pace with emphatic back-to-back victories, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be eyeing a hat-trick of sorts against star-studded Mumbai Indians in the WPL match at home on Friday.
Smriti Mandhana's RCB hasn't put a foot wrong so far, be it chasing an imposing 200-plus target against Gujarat Giants or overhauling a tricky 140-odd runs against Delhi Capitals.
Their overall strengths came to the fore in the two games they played this season and they now lead the five-team chart with four points and a healthy net run-rate. No other team so far has won all its matches.
RCB are guaranteed an incredible reception when they play their first home game this season at the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangaluru, and Mandhana, who broke DC's back with a blazing 47-ball 81 in the previous game, will be eyeing an encore.
The India vice-captain is in the ascendant, having bagged the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award for 2024 and being named to the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year. That streak of genius was evident in the way she disdainfully amassed her runs against DC.
If it was a one-player show against DC, the resilience of the team’s middle-order came to the fore against GG, whose line-up is a virtual who's who in international women's cricket.
The likes of Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh and young Kanika Ahuja rose to the occasion to make the task look easy, winning by six wickets with plenty of balls to spare.
Though RCB looked a bit thin on the bowling front, leaking far too many runs -- teenage pacer VJ Joshitha conceding 43 in her four overs and Australian stalwart Georgia Wareham giving away 50 in her three -- it was a much-improved bowling performance against DC.
But Mumbai Indians, the inaugural edition’s champions, will be tough customers, with India captain Harmanpreet a hard taskmaster.
They did lose to DC despite Nat Sciver-Brunt's peerless batting (80 off 59 balls) and her 73-run run partnership with Harmanpreet, but the class and calibre of the side is something RCB will be wary of.
To add to the batting firepower is one of the most destructive top-order batters Hayley Matthews, along with Amelia Kerr. But MI's batting will still revolve around Sciver-Brunt, who has scored consecutive half-centuries, and Harmanpreet.
If the team wants to go the distance, the two will, however, need the help of others.
On the bowling front, the side has performed admirably, with Sciver-Brunt and Shabnim Ismail creating a lot of problems for their rivals with the pace they generate.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (captains), Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Nadine de Klerk, Sanskriti Gupta, Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail, Jintimani Kalita, G Kamalini, Amandeep Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Sathyamoorthy Keerthana, Amelia Kerr, Akshita Maheshwari, Hayley Matthews, Sajeevan Sajana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Parunika Sisodia, Chloe Tryon.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Kanika Ahuja, Ekta Bisht, Charlie Dean, Kim Garth, Richa Ghosh, Heather Graham, VJ Joshitha, Sabbhineni Meghana, Nuzhat Parween, Jagravi Pawar, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Sneh Rana, Prema Rawat, Renuka Singh, Georgia Wareham, Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
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