Will ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’ become a reality for RCB fans?

While the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) men have not been able to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the past 16 seasons, the women’s team led by Smriti Mandhana is all geared up to win the coveted Women’s Premier League (WPL) as they take on last season’s runner’s-up Delhi Capital (DC) in the finals to be held at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, later today

RCB ended fourth in the first season failing to qualify even for the eliminator. This season has gone well for the team and the fans hope that at least the women lift the WPL title and the slogan ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’ (This time, Cup is ours) will become a reality.

RCB kicked off this season with a good start with consecutive wins over UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants before suffering two successive defeats against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians. However, the Smriti Mandhana-led team bounced back with a win against UP Warriorz and kept their hopes alive to qualify for the playoffs. In the Eliminator, RCB defeated the defending champions Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians to set up a title clash against Delhi Capitals.

Both, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are strong contenders. However, DC’s dominance over RCB across two seasons could make it tough for the Smriti Mandhana-led side to overcome the Meg Lanning-led team. For RCB, apart from Smriti Mandhana, players like Ellyse Perry, Asha Shobana, Shreyanka Patil Richa Ghosh and Georgia Wareham will be crucial to emerge victorious.

Likely XI

DC: Meg Lanning (Capt.), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy and Shikha Pandey.

RCB: Smriti Mandhana (Capt.), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, S. Meghana, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh, Asha Sobhana and Ekta Bisht.