New Delhi, March 17 (IANS ) Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning has won the toss and elected to bat first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final of Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Delhi Capitals have the upper hand over RCB in the head-to-head record for this season, at 2-0. Out of ten matches at the stadium in this edition of the tournament, teams batting first have won seven times, while sides batting second have emerged victorious thrice.
After winning the toss, Meg said her team are unchanged from their previous game. “We will bat tonight, feel that's the best chance to win the game. The pitch looks good and we'll have to bat well. What has happened before is irrelevant, we're up against a great team and we need to play well,” she said.
RCB captain Smriti Mandhana, who got a loud cheer from the crowd, said right-handed top-order batter Sabbhineni Meghana comes into the playing eleven in place of left-arm fast-bowler Shraddha Pokharkar, who didn’t bowl at all in the five-run win over Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator on Friday.
“We would have batted first as well, but I think it doesn't really go well, we will have to bowl well, stick to our plans, and play some good cricket. We've had a lot of ups and downs so far, but we need to be at our best tonight. This is the fourth match on the same wicket, the last game, it played slow,” she said.
The pitch for Sunday’s final is a centre pitch with square boundaries on both sides at 55m and a straight boundary standing at 65m. Whoever wins the title clash, will be the first-ever title for either RCB or DC in terms of franchise T20 cricket competitions in India- WPL and IPL.
Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (captain), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Taniyaa Bhatia (wicketkeeper) and Shikha Pandey
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Sophie Devine, Sabbhineni Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana and Renuka Singh Thakur