Match 17 of the 2026 Women's Premier League pits table-toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru against UP Warriorz, which are at the bottom of the league standings.
RCB qualified for the knockouts after winning the first five matches of the season. Since then, they have lost two games. Meanwhile, UP Warriorz's season started terribly as they lost their first three games. They found some form as they notched back-to-back wins. But the defeat against Gujarat Giants in their previous fixture dealt a severe blow to their playoff ambitions. To have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs, UP Warriorz have to win their next two games and hope that the results from other matches also go their way.
There isn't a better time for UP Warriorz to take on RCB. The 2024 champions stumbled to defeats against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in their previous two games. In these matches, their batting frailties have been exposed. Barring for Richa Ghosh's fighting innings of 90 in 50 deliveries, no other batter managed to cross 40 in the two games. RCB are heavily reliant on their captain Smriti Mandhana when it comes to batting. With 236 runs, Mandhana is the team's leading run-scorer this year. Ghosh has scored 183 runs this season and most of those runs came in just one innings.
If RCB have to lift the the WPL trophy for the second time, then other batters will have to start clicking. Bowling is looking good with Lauren Bell, Nadine de Klerk and Shreyanka Patil picking 11, 11 and 10 wickets respectively. Sayali Satghare, who is playing for the RCB for the first time this season, has claimed 8 wickets.
Despite endearing a poor season, UP Warriorz can draw inspiration from their back-to-back wins over defending champions Mumbai Indians. The Warriorz first defeated MI by 7 wickets and followed that win with a victory by 22 runs. A couple of performances stood out. Harleen Deol, skipper Meg Lanning and Phobe Litchefield hit half-centuries in those two games. But UPW have suffered a setback as Litchefield has got injured and cannot play for the rest of the season.
Bowling has been a big worry for the Warriorz. Sophie Ecclestone, their leading wicket-taker this season, has claimed only 6 wickets. Shikha Pandey, the next highest-wicket take, has picked only 5 wickets.
Pitch:
Expect a slow pitch for this match
RCB v UPW possible playing 11
RCB: Grace Harris, Smriti Mandhana (capt), Georgia Voll, Gautami Naik, Richa Ghosh (wk), Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Sayali Satghare, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Lauren Bell
UPW: Meg Lanning (capt), Kiran Navgire, Amy Jones, Harleen Deol, Chloe Tryon, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana, Shikha Pandey, Kranti Gaud
Head to Head (last 5 matches)
RCB have beaten UPW in three of the last five matches they have played against them. UP Warriorz clinched one match and one game ended in a tie which UP Warriorz won in the Super Over.
Form Guide:
RCB: W-W-W-L-L
UPW: L-W-W-L-L
Match Time and LIVE stream
The match gets underway at 7.30 pm IST. It will be streamed LIVE on the JioHotstar app and broadcast on the Star Sports Channel.
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