On the road again, RCB find themselves in a fight for survival

Four straight defeats at home have left Royal Challengers Bengaluru on the brink of replicating their dubious record from the inaugural season, and there's no team that better understands what such a winless streak does to playoffs qualification. Coincidentally, it was against the UP Warriorz in WPL 2023 that RCB had broken the jinx finally, and they'd be hoping to prolong the hosts' misery this time in a bid to revive their chances of a top-three finish on Saturday.

RCB had the unwavering support of about a 28,000-strong crowd on average during the Bengaluru leg, but it was the pitch and conditions that nullified their home advantage. Losing all four tosses didn't help, but their over-reliance on Ellyse Perry shone bright across the four games, whether RCB admit it or not. On one hand is Perry with her "inhumane effort" and season's second-highest tally of 295 runs at an average of 98.3 in six outings, invariably swapping out the RCB red for the tournament Orange Cap every outing. And on the other is the rest of the top-four totalling 358 runs at 22.37 in the season. Take out Mandhana's match-winning 81 against or Danni Wyatt-Hodge's maiden fifty against UPW from that total, it paints a worrisome picture.

Top-order woes are a common theme across the board. In the last four games, Warriorz have changed their opening combination thrice around Grace Harris, and with the maiden half-century of Georgia Voll, they may have finally settled on the Australian pair. The inequitable interspersion of domestic talent and experienced international stars had already caused irreparable damage in the first half, often leaving their power-hitters too much to do at the end. On days they were able to pull it off - like Chinelle Henry's assault on Delhi capitals or Sophie Ecclestone's heist against RCB - it made for two of the most thrilling contests of this edition, but Warriorz have struggled largely on either side of those successive wins.

On paper, only NRR separates RCB (-0.244) and UPW (-0.785) but RCB do have a game in hand - in Mumbai on the last night of the round-robin stage. Their defeat to Gujarat Giants in their homecoming had left Warriorz only mathematically hanging in the playoffs equation, and requiring favour from other teams. That is, if they can first do themselves a favour and sign off their inconsistent season on a high with a win against RCB to jump up in the standings

When: Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect: Dew is back in the conversations at WPL 2025, and given its heavy presence in the evenings in Lucknow at this time of the year, the opting-to-chase trend will continue in all likelihood.

Team News

UP Warriorz

In her two games for UPW late in WPL 2025, Gouher Sultana has bowled one over and leaked 16 in that. She might make way for a like-for-like Rajeshwari Gayakwad, if not an additional pacer.

Probable XI:Grace Harris, Georgia Voll, Vrinda Dinesh, Deepti Sharma (c), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Sophie Ecclestone, Gouher Sultana/Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Kranti Goud

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

In the post-match chat with the broadcaster, skipper Mandhana brushed off the suggestion that RCB contemplated the tactical call to retire out Raghavi Bist against DC after her tepid start. Now, a week later, In do-or-die situation they might be desperate to ring in a change or two.

Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana (c), Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Ellyse Perry, Raghvi Bist/S Meghana, Kanika Ahuja, Richa Ghosh (wk), Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Ekta Bisht/Prema Rawat