Image: Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women vs Delhi Capitals Women / © X (Twitter)
The players expected to participate in this game are evenly split between the two teams. On one side, India has Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues; on the other, Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh. On one side are Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt; on the other side will be Nadine de Klerk.
Two high-impact overseas all-rounders from the West Indies and Australia are in the background of these 4 players. Both players have played major roles in their respective teams’ success on their way to this point.
Chinelle Henry was a surprise for Delhi Capitals (DC), as they had a 3/24 performance in the Eliminator, and it has gone largely unnoticed in the bigger context of the tournament. However, her contribution was just as important as the opening partnership between Shafali and Lizelle Lee, or Rodrigues’ cameo in the Eliminator.
Grace Harris has added to the total RCB roster by being there in place of Ellyse Perry in the powerplay overs. She has been exceptional at putting stress on opposition bowling attacks before the arrival of players like Ghosh and de Klerk to finish the job.
Regardless of whether or not you like either of these teams, it would still be fun to see them play each other in the final. The Mumbai Indians have been the heavy favourite since retaining their superstar players has allowed them to win two championships in the last three seasons.
RCB didn’t have a superstar like Perry to come into their squad, and when they decided to bring in Sayali Satghare to replace Perry, knowing that Pooja Vastrakar wouldn’t be around for most of the tournament, the fan base was outraged. Satghare quickly became an influential member of the RCB seam family.
The other thing that stands out about Thursday’s final is how both clubs made it to the finals. RCB followed the path that DC followed for three years by winning 6 of 8 matches to finish first in their division, while DC has squeaked by winning 3 straight must-win matches, and will be playing their 3rd knockout game in 5 days.
RCB seem to be putting their faith in Vastrakar to perform as an individual batter while also introducing her back into bowling gradually during their practice sessions, as she has not played for about 15 months competitively. The form of Arundhati Reddy has also been a concern for RCB. Especially since Prema Rawat could fill that gap.
DC looks as if they will likely remain the same as they have been throughout WPL’s four-year existence, with only 13 different players having been utilised from the entire player pool by DC.
DC are attempting to secure its 4th straight championship, to add to an already mountainous trophy cabinet with no major Aston Martin. On the other hand, the RCB is attempting to create a dynasty of championship titles after winning the last two IPL championships.
In all three previous editions of this event, the team that won the Eliminator (the double round-robin match played between teams that finished the round-robin season one win apart) ultimately won the IPL championship. Will the outcome of Thursday’s game be different from those previous three?