The roller-coasting ride of the Women’s Premier League second edition is poaching towards an ultimate climax as the season’s only eliminator clash is just around the corner.
After gracing the champions’ podium through the eliminator route in the inaugural season, Mumbai Indians are eyeing to once again pull off a similar feat. The defending champions will be summoned by the Royal Challengers Bangalore side which is all set to make their debut playoff appearance at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium this Friday.
The defending champions are playing under immense pressure to replicate their recent valor and live up to the expectations of fans across the globe. Yastika Bhatia’s unavailability in their previous fixture was a major blow to the Mumbai batting as the opening responsibilities were handed to newly emerged Sanjana Sajeevan in her absence. The 23-year-old Baroda star is likely to recover from sickness and resume her duties of opening and keeping wickets in this forthcoming clash.
After having a forgettable debut season, the RCB roster returned to action with a revamped coaching staff and is scaling new heights in this edition. The current team combination of Bangalore has kicked in as they have put up their best performances in the last two fixtures against the top sides. Hence, it is speculated that the team management will not be making any changes in their playing XI in order to sustain further the positive momentum.
What have they done so far?
MI Women continued their triumphant run from the inaugural and finished the league stage caravan with five wins from eight fixtures. They started the title defense campaign as the favorites to recapture the gold and were also close to earning a direct qualification to the finals.
However, the Maharashtrian franchise failed to emerge victorious in their final league game and lost the table-toppers crown to the seasoned rivals Delhi Capitals for the second time.
The Bold Army kick-started their Season 2 journey with two consecutive triumphs but soon stumbled upon massive defeats at the hands of bigshots DC and MI. In the turn of events, RCB came closer to earning their maiden playoff ticket as they only had to win one of the remaining two league fixtures.
After missing out on a high-scoring run-chase against the Capitals by a single-run margin in the penultimate clash, the Red and Blacks eventually sealed the playoff berth with a seven-wicket win over MI.
Head to Head Record
RCB’s most recent victory against Mumbai also marks their maiden two-point prowess over the Blues and the end of a three-match undefeated streak making the WPL head-to-head record of this rivalry between two powerhouse franchises 3-1 in four encounters.
In the WPL-winning inaugural season, MI exercised their domination by completing a double over the Karnataka-based outfit. The outcomes of both face-offs fared comfortably in the favor of Harmanpreet Kaur’s side, especially in the maiden clash where they chased down the target of 156 in just 14.2 overs while having 9 wickets in hands.
Earlier this season, Mumbai led by stand-in skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt barged into Royal Challengers’ fortress M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and thrashed the home team in yet another one-sided saga. Bangalore exacted an ultimate avenge in the returning fixture at Delhi starring an all-round performance from the veteran Ellyse Perry.
Key Players
Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians): The MI-W skipper is leading the feminine unit from the front through her heroics with the willow. Her golden duck was the turning point in Mumbai’s fiasco of being restricted to the first-innings total of 113 runs against the same opposition around last time.
Despite missing two games due to an ankle injury, Kaur still stands as the highest run-getter for MI this season and also holds the record for the highest individual innings of an unbeaten 95 against Gujarat Giants.
When Ellyse Perry pierced through the spirits of MI Women
Ellyse Perry (Royal Challengers Bangalore): It was an all-round heroic performance delivered by the Australian star as she bamboozled the batting and bowling units of Mumbai single-handedly to help RCB qualify for the playoffs.
While bowling first, Perry dismissed six opposition batters to register the best-ever bowling figures of 6-15 in the history of WPL. She then channelled her magic into runs and went on to become the highest run-scorer of the match scalping 40 runs off 38 balls.
Predicted XIs
Mumbai Indians Women: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur ©, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women: Smriti Mandhana ©, Sophie Molineux, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Disha Kasat, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Shraddha Pokharkar, Renuka Thakur Singh
Prediction
The prediction odds are equally favoring both of these combatants to win this intense contest of cricket. MI Women’s roster is stacked with high-profile names who are capable enough to pull themselves off from the worsened circumstances.
However, RCB slightly has a stronger contention to claim the final ticket considering their red-hot recent form and track record of capitalizing on Delhi conditions.