The in-form Delhi Capitals, led by the inspiring Meg Lanning, will be hoping to get lucky for the second time and clinch their maiden Women's Premier League title when they take on plucky Royal Challengers Bangalore in the top-flight clash in the Arun Jaitley Stadium. After missing out on the title in the inaugural edition of WPL last year and losing by seven wickets to Mumbai Indians in the final, DC looked rejuvenated this year. DC are in excellent form this year, leading the five-team standings with 12 points from eight games.
Lanning has led DC from the front, scoring 308 runs in eight innings, while South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp and Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen are the highest wicket-takers for the side with 11 scalps each.
DC's only two losses this season were against Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz. Apart from these two games, they have enjoyed a near-perfect campaign.
Going into the final, they will certainly start as favorites as they have never lost to RCB in four encounters.
But that said, past results will hardly have any meaning in the final. It will be a new day and the team that can withstand the pressure and expectations will lift the title.
DC expects the explosive Shafali Verma to get them off to a fast start alongside Lanning.
Jemimah Rodrigues was good in the middle, but Lanning expected more contributions from all-rounders Alice Capsey and Kapp.
In terms of bowling, Jonassen was the best player, but Kapp and Shikha Pandey also contributed.
Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav was also effective with 10 wickets and the home side will certainly rely heavily on their spinners in a relatively slow Kotla pitch.
RCB, on the other hand, finished third in the league stage after an inconsistent run that yielded eight points from as many games, but they clicked when it mattered and defeated defending champions MI by five points in the eliminator here on Friday.
All-rounder Ellyse Perry will be key to RCB's success on Sunday as the Australian is not only the highest run-getter with 312 runs but was also impressive with the ball, scalping seven wickets.
Without Perry's all-round showing against MI on Friday, the result could have been different. She first played a crucial 50-ball and 66-run knock and then returned with figures of 1/29 to play a key role in RCB's journey to the final.
But Perry would be looking for more support from skipper Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh and Sophie Molineux with the bat.
However, if RCB were to stop DC, they would need the efforts of their bowlers, especially Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil, Georgia Wareham etc.
All in all, it promises to be a cracker of a match, with the balance tilting slightly towards host country DC.
Teams (away): Delhi Capitals: Taniya Bhatia (wk), Laura Harris, Meg Lanning (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Shikha Pandey, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu, Radha Yadav, Ashwani Kumari, Aparna Mondal, V Sneha Deepthi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Richa Ghosh (wk), Disha Kasat, Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbhineni Meghana, Indrani Roy, Satheesh Shubha, Heather Knight, Simran Bahadur, Nadine de Klerk, Sophie Devine, Shreyanka Patil, Ellyse Perry, Asha Sobhana, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Sophie Molineux, Shradda Pokharkar, Renuka Singh, Georgia Wareham.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article