Delhi Capitals are direct finalists of WPL Final for the second year running with a point to prove. Lanning isn’t exactly used to losing trophies, albeit also yet to win one in the franchise cricket circuit. Despite being the most consistent performers, they ended up as silver-medalists in 2023 to Hamranpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians – an opponent RCB has seen off in the Eliminator this season.
The Capitals have been well served by an in-form opening pair that’s head and shoulders above their peers across the two seasons, a Jemimah Rodrigues 2.0, a smiling assassin with the new ball in Marizanne Kapp and an ultimate fighter in Jess Jonassen who has channelled the energies after a national setback to make a strong statement. If there’s only one area to nit-pick, it’s probably the underexposed lower-middle order. And RCB has shown two games in a row how big of a crack it can prove to be.
Big enough for them to sneak into their maiden final, at the expense of the defending champions. Credit where it’s due to the RCB spin troika of Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana for holding their nerve to collectively defend just 20 off 18 as Mumbai made a hash of the 135-run chase after losing their set captain in death overs. However, Ellyse Perry has probably had a bigger, all-round hand in digging the team out of the hole in two successive games, incidentally both against MI, and giving them the sniff.
The Capitals and RCB have both endured their contrasting journeys to this WPL final. The two franchises have previously only finished as bridesmaids even in the men’s equivalent. A new champion will be crowned on Sunday. Will it be the hosts or the crowd favorites; only time will tell.
Venue : Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Delhi Capitals (Probable XI) : Meg Lanning(C), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia(wk), Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Probable XI) : Smriti Mandhana(C), Sophie Devine, S Meghana, Elyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(wk), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Shraddha Pokharkar, Renuka Thakur