Image: RCB Women face UP Warriorz at BCA Stadium Vadodara / © X (Twitter)
RCB qualified for the playoffs, but they are significantly struggling after 2 losses from previous matches, following a strong start, and now find themselves going backwards in form significantly. On the other hand, UPW are desperate to stay among the top four teams, and therefore require a win to remain in contention for a playoff place.
With a fantastic record of 5 wins and 2 losses, the RCB stand at the top of the points table thanks to the depth in both their batting and bowling. The RCB’s batting partnership with Captain Smriti Mandhana has started strong in each game that they have played thus far; likewise, Lauren Bell is currently the leading wicket-taker for RCB in this tournament. Unfortunately for the UP Warriorz, their inconsistency throughout the year has hurt their efforts to win games, placing them last on the points table with only 2 wins. Recently, they lost to the Gujarat Giants by an embarrassing 45 runs and have yet to develop a batting unit that can perform effectively.
According to the head-to-head statistics in WPL history, RCB have obtained more victories against UPW; however, since T20 cricket is so unpredictable, it is difficult to accurately predict the outcome of a match based on previous results alone. The Vadodara playing surface has provided teams with ample opportunities for good scoring via the use of dew (which will likely affect tonight’s team’s chase), and first-inning scores are usually in the 160–180 range of runs per team this season. This will likely create a highly competitive match between RCB’s experienced team and UPW’s determined team, trying to turn its season around, attempting to gain momentum to reach playoff play and maintain it through this match.
This season’s RCB have suffered greatly from the absence of star all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who pulled out of WPL 2026 for personal reasons after being re-signed by the team this past off-season. RCB added a replacement for Perry by signing Sayali Satghare as an additional seam-bowler. The batting order of the RCB is still capable of producing firepower with Smriti Mandhana, Nadine de Klerk, Richa Ghosh and others contributing to the depth of offensive capability. There will also be a bolstered bowling attack with performers Lauren Bell and Radha Yadav, and other bowlers looking to create early opportunities for taking wickets. With the RCB completing an impressive finish to this 20-match campaign, having already been assured of a top-two finish in the finals series draw, the RCB will be looking for a return to winning as they have lost the last two matches in succession, giving them a strong opportunity to continue their momentum into the end of the season.
Meg Lanning is having an outstanding season as part of the WPL team captain. With all she has accomplished this season, she is currently ahead of Ellyse Perry in most runs scored (WPL – career). The batting experience that Meg provides UPW will assist in getting UPW into a rhythm against the very strong bowling attack (full-strength) of RCB. Other members of the UPW bowling unit (Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey) should also assist UPW in restricting RCB’s run scoring in both the early (power) phase (1-10) of the innings and the middle (11-40) phase as well. A win by UPW will keep them close to the top of the standings and close to being a playoff contender. A loss would mean that UPW would have a huge drop in the chance of making the playoffs because there are many teams positioned very close to each other on the WPL standings table.