🏏WPL 2025: Match 15 - GG W vs UP Warriorz W at Lucknow, 03/03/25🏏 - Page 106

Congratulations to UP Warrioz for winning the match.

Congratulations to Chinelle Henry for winning the PoTM award.

I am happy for UP for their first win.

Cheers..

Congratulations to UP W for their win over DC W.

Next match details--

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women vs Up Warriorz Women, 9th Match

Series: Womens Premier League 2025

Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date & Time: Feb 24, 07:30 PM LOCAL

Rest day for WPL today. UP has to play against RCB tomorrow, so a rest day was scheduled for them today.

Cheers..

Next match details--

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women vs Up Warriorz Women, 9th Match

Series: Womens Premier League 2025

Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date & Time: Feb 24, 07:30 PM LOCAL

🏏WPL 2025: Match 9 - RCB vs UP Warriorz Women at Bengaluru on 24/02/25 at 7:30PM IST🏏

RCB look to get back on track against a Warriorz team that's gathering momentum

RCB lost their previous game, but have done many things right this season. Warriorz won their last game, but it was their first points of the season. Who will come out on top at the Chinnaswamy?

A lot of things are working for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). So they would not want to dwell on the loss to Mumbai Indians, and instead get back to winning ways in their second home game of the season. The major talking point from that loss was RCB's middle order collapsing around Ellyse Perry. Despite posting just 167, the likes of Kim Garth, Georgia Wareham and Ekta Bisht still took the defence to last over. Hence there's no need to panic yet. With just one defeat from three matches, RCB top the points table.

Unlike RCB, UP Warriorz have just got their first points in three games with a thumping win over Delhi Capitals. They would want their openers to start strong and will hope Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris pick up pace with the bat as they head into crucial phase of the tournament. They haven't done particularly well in the middle overs, either slowing down or losing wickets in a cluster in this phase. They had Chinelle Henry's explosive innings down the order in the last game, and then their bowlers got the job done. They would be keen to carry this momentum forward to move up the table.

Players to watch: Smriti Mandhana and Kranti Goud

Smriti Mandhana likes the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The last time India played three ODIs in Bengaluru, she scored two hundreds and a 90 against South Africa. When RCB played five games at this venue last year, she smashed 219 runs at a strike rate of 154.22. Her last season's highest score of 80 also came against Warriorz here. In her previous two games, she's got 26 off 13, and 81 off off 47. Don't bet against more fireworks from Mandhana.

Kranti Goud bowled a dream spell against Capitals on Saturday, claiming a four-wicket haul. She used the movement off the pitch to account for Capitals' top order and Jess Jonassen. After going wicketless in the first two matches, this performance would have given the youngster a lot of confidence in her debut WPL season.

RCB and UP Warriorz have made contrasting starts this season. While the defending champions kickstarted their title defence with two wins, UP Warriorz found themselves on the losing end in their first two games. RCB would have been highly hopeful of making it three in three halfway through the second innings against Mumbai Indians before the inaugural champions came out on top.

UP Warriorz on the other hand managed to break the trend this season of chasing teams prevailing every time. The opening seven matches of the season saw teams batting second emerge victorious before UPW managed to defend their total quite comfortably in the end last night against Delhi Capitals. But there is no time to rest on the laurels with the games coming thick and fast as it does in this tournament. Despite the win, UPW know that there are areas to work on.

There will be focus on their batting department, especially with the top four not firing consistently. Tahlia McGrath in particular will be looking to make a mark having not done so until now. Chinelle Henry has been terrific in both the games she has played so far. While a batting promotion cannot be ruled out, she would ideally like a helping hand from the other end.

As far as RCB are concerned, they would hope that the loss against MI was just a blip. Staring down a defeat in the first game, they came out on top in quite thrilling fashion before dismantling Capitals. They are also the only team having the luxury of playing four games at home this season. Now that they have lost the first of those four games, they would ideally want to put up a show in front of their home crowd and make this run of games count if they are to go far in the tournament once again.

Team news

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Despite the loss against MI, RCB would want to stick with the same side that helped them win their first two games.

Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana (c), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Ekta Bisht, Joshitha VJ, Renuka Thakur

UP Warriorz

It's unlikely they would want to break the combination that has helped them get off the mark but a promotion up the order for Henry could be on the cards given her strike rate in the tournament. She has smashed 11 out of the 38 balls she has faced, over the fence.

Probable XI: Kiran Navgire, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (c), Tahlia McGrath, Shweta Sehrawat, Chinelle Henry, Grace Harris, Sophie Ecclestone, Uma Chetry (wk), Kranti Goud, Saima Thakor

Key stats

• Warriorz have hit 17 sixes so far, the second most in this WPL
• The Warriorz pace bowlers have conceded 9.02 runs an over in three matches so far - the highest economy rate for fast bowlers of any team in this WPL.
• Mandhana has scored 245 runs in Bengaluru in the WPL, the most for a player at this venue.