RCB Forced to Bat First as Harmanpreet Wins Toss Against Hostile Bengaluru Crowd – WPL 2025
The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women (RCB-W), take on Mumbai Indians Women (MI-W) in the seventh match of WPL 2025. The match takes place at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mumbai captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to field first. This decision put RCB’s strong batting lineup to the test at home.
RCB’s Strong Start in WPL 2025
RCB-W have had a sensational start to the season, winning both their opening matches. Smriti Mandhana’s team made news by achieving a record run chase against the Gujarat Giants Women. They then secured a strong eight-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals Women.
At their home ground, Bengaluru will try to keep their winning streak. They want to strengthen their place at the top of the standings.
Mumbai Indians Aim for Consistency
Mumbai Indians Women have had a mixed start to their campaign. They lost to Delhi Capitals Women by just two wickets in their first match. Then, they came back strong and won against Gujarat Giants Women by five wickets. After winning the toss, MI-W’s bowling attack gained an early advantage. They will try to take control of the game.
RCB-W vs MI-W: Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians Women:
- Yastika Bhatia (wk)
- Hayley Matthews
- Nat Sciver-Brunt
- Harmanpreet Kaur (c)
- Sajeevan Sajana
- G Kamalini
- Amelia Kerr
- Amanjot Kaur
- Shabnim Ismail
- Sanskriti Gupta
- Parunika Sisodia
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women:
- Smriti Mandhana (c)
- Danielle Wyatt
- Ellyse Perry
- Richa Ghosh (wk)
- Raghvi Anand Bist
- Kanika Ahuja
- Georgia Wareham
- Kim Garth
- VJ Joshitha
- Ekta Bisht
- Renuka Singh Thakur
Captains’ Reactions
Smriti Mandhana (RCB-W Captain):
“Definitely. It’s good to be back. I’m having the best time in the world, coming back here. (On fans’ support) It’s massive for the team to have fans around. It motivates us and whatever we do, we do it for them. All are really calm. All girls are sure that cricket is a game that you start from zero. No one is taking anything for granted and we are looking forward to this game. I don’t mind batting first. Looks a good wicket to bat on. I don’t think there will be much dew here as we saw in Vadodara. We are going with the same XI.”
Harmanpreet Kaur (MI-W Captain):
“We are going to bowl first. We have seen the conditions in the first half here are good for bowling and we want to take advantage of it. We had a lot of fun last year in Bengaluru and we are looking forward to this game tonight. We are unchanged.”
