It’s the El Clasico in the world of cricket! Whenever Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) lock horns with each other, the stakes and the excitement levels are quite high. It is the first time that the women’s team of both the franchises will be crossing swords with each other.
Mumbai Indians led by Harmanpreet Kaur had a rollicking start to their Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign. They absolutely crushed aside Gujarat Giants (GG) in the inaugural game of WPL 2023. Kaur’s Mumbai steamrolled past Gujarat by 143 runs and stamped their authority.
Harmanpreet Kaur bagged the player of the match award for her scintillating knock of 65 in just 30 deliveries. She will be a key player to watch out for in the team of Mumbai.
RCB on the other hand were defeated by Delhi Capitals in their season-opener. Chasing a humongous 224 runs, Smriti Mandhana’s RCB managed to reach only 163 runs.
Heather Knight shone with her all-round skills in the previous game of RCB
Smriti Mandhana and Heather Knight scored 35 and 34 runs respectively. Knight played with a blistering strike rate of 161.90 but her knock wasn’t enough.
Knight was also good with the ball and picked up the 2 wickets, which were incidentally also the only 2 wickets that fell for DC. All the other bowlers were expensive and couldn’t get their bearings right.
Mumbai Indians have a lot of depth in their batting and this definitely should be credited to their exceptional think-tank. Plus, Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy in the opening game of WPL 2023 was on point and she led from the front, putting up a stupendous display with the bat.
This game in the WPL 2023 will be one of the most enticing and pulsating games and it will be taking place at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Match is scheduled to begin from 7:30 PM (IST) and even though it’s a Monday, we can expect a lot of crowd to turn up.
Predicted Playing XI
Mumbai Indians
Yastika Bhatia, Saika Ishaque, Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur(C), Hayley Matthews, Natalie Sciver, Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Issy Wong
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Smriti Mandhana(C), Disha Kasat, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Kanika Ahuja, Preeti Bose, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh, Megan Schutt
Squads
Mumbai Indians
Dhara Gujar, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Amelia Kerr, Heather Graham, Amanjot Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Chloe Tryon, Humairaa Kaazi, Jintimani Kalita, Neelam Bisht, Isabelle Wong, Yastika Bhatia, Priyanka Bala
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Smriti Mandhana, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh, Indrani Roy, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Erin Burns, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Heather Knight, Dane van Niekerk, Poonam Khemnar, Renuka Singh, Preeti Bose, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar
