TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsTwo of the most followed franchises, with two of the most followed Indian women players, will be up against each other in Match 9 of the 2024 Women’s Premier League at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (March 2).
Yes, it’s time for Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians.
Defending champions Mumbai were without their regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (niggle injury) in their previous encounter against UP Warriorz and suffered their first defeat of the season. MI head coach Charlotte Edwards, however, has confirmed that Harmanpreet is most likely to be available for the RCB game.
Just like Mumbai, Bangalore also won their first two matches before tasting their first defeat. Smriti Mandhana and Co. were without Ellyse Perry against Delhi Capitals who batted them out of the contest. Mandhana smashed her maiden WPL fifty but Banglaore felt the absence of Perry in the middle-order. There is no update on when she will be match-ready, but in her absence, RCB’s top order will have to take even more responsibility.
(All stats till Match 7 of the WPL 2024)
Things to watch out for
MI’s bowling without Ismail isn’t great
4 wickets @ 10.5 and an economy of 5.25 - this is what Shabnim Ismail did for Mumbai in the first two games. The 35-year-old from South Africa, however, had to miss the game against UP due to an injury and Mumbai were found wanting in her absence. The Warriorz chased down the target of 162 with more than three overs to spare, and this is an area that RCB could target.
Mumbai are yet to lose a game in the WPL while chasing but has a 50-50 record while batting first. Apart from Ismail, not a single MI bowler has an economy of less than 7 this season. In fact, Mumbai have the worst economy (8.1) in the ongoing edition. Hence, Bangalore’s best chance is to bat Mumbai out of the contest.
Devine needs to fire with the bat
Sophie Devine operated at an average of 33.25 and a strike rate of 172.7 with the bat last season but the all-rounder from New Zealand hasn’t turned up in this edition. The 34-year-old has been superb with the new ball but hasn’t played her role as a batter. Just 30 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 107.1 doesn’t do justice to her potential.
Now if Perry isn’t available, RCB won’t have much depth in the batting line-up and it clearly showed against Delhi. Chasing 195, they were 112/2 at the end of 12 overs but could only manage 57/7 in the last eight overs. After scoring just seven runs in the first two innings, Devine hit 23 off 17 in the previous match and Bangalore would hope she builds on that and returns back to her best.
Ground details
The M.Chinnaswamy Stadium has hosted seven games so far and five have been won by the team batting second. We have witnessed four 160-plus totals, including Delhi’s 194 against RCB, in the last two games. If you don’t lose early wickets in the first innings, you have a chance of scoring big.
The spinners here have picked up more wickets but have also conceded runs at a higher rate. They take a wicket every 19.8 deliveries at the expense of 7.9 runs per over. Meanwhile, the corresponding numbers for fast bowlers are 21.7 and 7.6 respectively. Not too much difference, to be honest.
Tactical insights
> Nat Sciver-Brunt doesn’t have a great record against Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux in the 20-over format. The English batter averages just 5.7 against legspinner Wareham and has got out to her five times. Meanwhile, Molineux has dismissed her three times and averages 17.3 against the middle-order batter.
> We all know Mandhana struggles against off-spin and Mumbai could use someone like Hayley Matthews against her, but at the same time, Devine has an average of 74 and a strike rate of 141 against the all-rounder from West Indies. It could prove to be a double-edged sword.
Probable XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women - Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh (wk), Ellyse Perry (subject to fitness)/Nadine de Klerk, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Shreyanka Patil, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh.
Mumbai Indians Women - Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Shabnim Ismail (subject to fitness)/Issy Wong, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Saika Ishaque.
