After 10 days of high-octane cricket, the first phase of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will conclude on Saturday with a double-header.

While UP Warriorz will take on Mumbai Indians for the second time in three days, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face Delhi Capitals at the DY Patil Stadium later in the day.

Returning to winning ways after defeats in the first three outings, UP Warriorz will hope to keep the momentum going when it once again meets defending champion Mumbai Indians. However, the UP outfit will have to sort out its batting order, with opener Kiran Navgire falling to find form in four outings so far. While there is a possibility that the team management could explore the idea of promoting Phoebe Litchfield to open the innings and bring Shweta Sehrawat up the order, the Warriorz’ middle order needs to be more consistent.

For Mumbai Indians, it will be about regrouping. In the previous outing against the Warriorz, the MI bowlers bowled wide and short, and got punished by Harleen Deol. And, in a day game, where the surface would be flatter, and the temperature would soar, it would be a challenge for the bowling unit to rise to the occasion.

The batters, too, need to step up, be consistent and back captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Nicola Carey, who has been impressive with the bat and the ball so far.

In the other game of the day, the Capitals need to hold their nerve and make sure they don’t fumble in crunch situations. In two consecutive games, the Capitals stuttered under pressure, and coming on the back of a last-ball win, the Jemimah Rodrigues-led side needs to back itself. While the captain needs to ensure that she remains calm and composed in challenging situations, the team will have high expectations from the in-form Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma, whose all-round performance paved the way for the Capitals’ win against Warriorz.

With hardly any turnaround time, RCB needs to take things in its stride and start afresh in what could be a crucial group league fixture.

Published on Jan 16, 2026