Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will hope to get its title defence back on track when it hosts Gujarat Giants on Thursday in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The defending champion’s homecoming has been far from ideal. RCB lost to Mumbai Indians in the first match of the Bengaluru leg before falling to UP Warriorz in the WPL’s first-ever Super Over.
On the other hand, the Giants have an uphill task of avoiding the wooden spoon for the third season in a row as Ashleigh Gardner-led team languishes at the bottom of the standings with one win from four matches. Its most recent defeat came at the hands of Delhi Capitals.
Between these two sides, RCB has won thrice as compared to GG’s two victories. The most recent fixture between them was the WPL 2025 opener in Vadodara where Smriti Mandhana’s RCB managed to chase the target of 201.
READ | Chinelle Henry is here to ‘entertain, entertain, entertain’
This fixture has also seen Sophie Devine score a 36-ball 99, which is the highest individual score in the WPL. While Devine is not playing this season, someone who seems to be a credible candidate to better her record is her RCB teammate Ellyse Perry.
In every match of this edition, Perry has improved her highest individual score and the number now stands at 90 off 56 balls, which the Australian hit against the Warriorz, although in a losing cause. Amongst the other RCB batters, skipper Smriti will look to get her mojo back after failing to impress in the last two matches.
Pacer Renuka Singh was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ against the same opponent at the same venue last year. She will take confidence from that and look to leave behind that last over against the Warriorz where she conceded 17 runs on Monday.
In the Giants camp, head coach Michael Klinger needs to come up with a plan quickly to stabilise their top order which has been misfiring all season.