Follow UsUp Warriorz (UPW) will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 18 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on March 8 (Saturday).
Both UPW and RCB are currently placed at the bottom of the points table but a win in this encounter could put them back in the playoff race. The Warriorz have won only two of their seven matches so far, while RCB started the season with two wins but lost all their four games at Chinnaswamy.
The last time these two sides faced each other, the match ended in a tie, with UPW winning the Super Over, thanks to Sophie Ecclestone.
(All stats till Match 16)
Kiran Navgire, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (capt), Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Chinelle Henry, Uma Chetry (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Gouher Sultana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Alana King, Anjali Sarvani, Arushi Goel, Poonam Khemnar, Tahlia McGrath, Saima Thakor
Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Kanika Ahuja, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Ekta Bisht, Sabbhineni Meghana, Nuzhat Parween, Heather Graham, Charlotte Dean, Jagravi Pawar, Joshitha VJ, Prema Rawat
Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (capt), Shweta Sehrawat, Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Gouher Sultana, Kranti Goud
Smriti Mandhana (capt), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Kanika Ahuja, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Ekta Bisht
UPW vs RCB will be telecasted live on Star Sports, and it will also be streamed live on JioHotstar.
All WPL 2025 matches will start at 7:30 PM IST. There are no doubleheaders in the competition.
You can find and buy tickets for UPW-RCB on BookMyShow.
Safe options: Ellyse Perry (RCB), Renuka Singh (RCB), Chinelle Henry (UPW), Sophie Ecclestone (UPW)
Risky options: Smriti Mandhana (RCB), Richa Ghosh (RCB), Grace Harris (UPW), Georgia Voll (UPW)
Matches 5 | UPW 2 | RCB 3
RCB are clearly a better side on paper despite having lost their last four matches. If Smriti Mandhana and Co. can manage to keep a couple of UPW players quiet, they should end their losing streak.
It has to be Ellyse Perry. The ace all-rounder from Australia has slammed 295 runs in six innings at an average of 98.33 and a strike rate of 149.74. She has four 50-plus scores in this tournament - most by any batter in the WPL 2025.
With 10 wickets at an average of 10.1, Renuka Singh Thakur is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker in the WPL 2025. In the last game against UPW, the right-armer picked up two wickets. Renuka has gone wicketless only once so far in this tournament.
Lucknow have hosted two games so far and the 150-run mark has been crossed thrice in four innings. Spinners have been more successful compared to fast bowlers. The former have a better average (19.6 vs 22.4) and economy rate (7.5 vs 8) compared to seamers.
There’s zero percent chance of rain in Lucknow on March 8 (Saturday), so we should get a full game. The temperature during match hours is going to 20-25 degrees Celsius.