Who’s playing

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs UP Warriorz (UPW)
Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, 7.30pm IST

What to expect: RCB hope to stay alive

The spotlight is on RCB. Placed fourth, the defending champions will have to win both their remaining games, starting with this contest against bottom-placed UP Warriorz, and then wait for other results to go their way to qualify for the playoffs. Losing even one out of the next two games will put them out of contention. Warriorz, meanwhile, were knocked out by Gujarat Giants on Friday and will look to finish the season on a high.

Four straight defeats after two successive wins have left RCB with more questions than answers. The batting has looked overly dependent on Ellyse Perry, with Smriti Mandhana in the middle of a lean patch. The rest of the line-up has been inconsistent. While Renuka Singh, Kim Garth and Georgia Wareham have taken the bulk of responsibility with the ball and have 25 wickets combined, RCB have been found wanting with their fourth and fifth bowling options. Will a six-day break help them bounce back?

Warriorz have struggled in all departments, and the constant shuffling of their batting order hasn’t helped. Chinelle Henry, despite being explosive at the death, has not gotten a promotion to address the middle-order woes. Deepti Sharma has also had an underwhelming outing as captain and bowler, picking up five wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 8.11. Sophie Ecclestone has been the only bowler who has looked threatening.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bengaluru LLL (last three matches, most recent first)
UP Warriorz LLL

Team news

RCB are likely to go with the experience of Sneh Rana and Ekta Bisht in the spin department.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Raghvi Bisht, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Kanika Ahuja, 7 Georgia Wareham, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Kim Garth, 10 Ekta Bisht, 11 Renuka Singh

Gouher Sultana played two matches in Lucknow but bowled only one over and went for 16 runs. It remains to be seen whether Warriorz bring back Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who has played only one match so far in this edition.

UP Warriorz (probable): 1 Grace Harris, 2 Georgia Voll, 3 Kiran Navgire, 4 Vrinda Dinesh, 5 Deepti Sharma (capt), 6 Shweta Sehrawat, 7 Uma Chetry (wk), 8 Chinelle Henry, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Gouher Sultana/Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Kranti Goud

In the spotlight: Ellyse Perry and Sophie Ecclestone

Key stats