Who’s playing
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)
Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, February 21, 2025
What to expect: RCB’s Indian unit vs MI’s overseas players
The formidable RCB side will be looking to continue their imperious run as they enter the home leg. They have a lot going for them this season and though they are without several match-winners from last season, their Indian players have stepped up. Smriti Mandhana continued her purple patch, Richa Ghosh looked in fine touch against Delhi Capitals after her blinder against Gujarat Giants, and Renuka Singh’s new-ball bowling has also been a big positive. They will want to make the most of playing in front of their home crowd at Chinnaswamy, where they won three out of five games last season. They will play four home matches this season.
For MI, though, it’s been all about the overseas players so far. They have banked on Nat Sciver-Brunt’s excellent form with the bat and ball. She followed up her 59-ball 80 not out in the loss against DC with a solo effort of 57 against Giants and gave her side their first win of the season. In the bowling department, Hayley Mathews and Amelia Kerr have been their key wicket-takers. MI will be looking for more support from their Indian line-up, especially in the batting department, to put up bigger scores.
Team news and likely XIs
RCB left Prema Rawat out and brought in senior left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht for the match against DC. Bisht marked her return with figures of 2-35, dismissing Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen.
RCB (probable)” 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Raghvi Bist, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Kanika Ahuja, 7 Georgia Wareham, 8 Ekta Bisht, 9 Kim Garth, 10 VJ Joshitha, 11 Renuka Singh
MI made two changes for their match against Giants, bringing in Parunika Sisodia for Saika Ishaque and G Kamalini for Jintimani Kalita. Kamalini played down the order and scored a boundary off the only ball she faced, while Sisodia went for 20 runs in her two overs.
MI (probable): 1 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 G Kamalini, 7 S Sajana, 8 Amanjot Kaur, 9 Sanskriti Gupta, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Parunika Sisodia
Players to watch: Renuka Singh and Hayley Mathews
Stats that matter
- RCB have won two out of their five games against MI so far in the WPL. At the centre of those two wins was Ellyse Perry. After bagging stunning figures of 6 for 15 in the reverse fixture in Delhi, she scored 66 off 50 in the Eliminator to lead RCB to the final.
- All six matches in the WPL 2025 so far have been won by the chasing side.
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo