Beth Mooney | GG Captain: We're going to have a bat. We're trying to be nice and brave, nice and positive. Do something different and try and see if we can shake things up. The wicket looks like it kept a little low last night, we'll see what it does in the 2nd innings, probably not as much dew as well. We've got one change.

Gujarat Giants have won the toss and have opted to bat

Pitch report: "Cool evening in Delhi. No fear of dew. 46m to one side and 63m to the other. The pitch is good to bat on. Black soil pitch here and its nicely rolled so it should be good for strokeplay" reckons Anjum Chopra.

18:30 Local Time, 1:00 GMT, 18:30 IST: After picking up an important win in their last home game at Bengaluru, the RCBW arrive at Delhi high on confidence. After successive defeats, they put up a strong batting display against the Warriors and defended the total without many hiccups. The Gujarat Giants, on the other hand, are yet to register a win from 4 games. Their latest defeat came against the Delhi Capitals when they were soundly beaten by 25 runs. Beth Mooney and co. will need to come up with a vastly improved performance tonight if they are to topple a resolute RCBW side. Stick around, toss and team sheets coming shortly.

Preview:

On mathematical possibility, Gujarat Giants may not be knocked out of WPL 2024 even if they lose their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but they would make their qualification possibility to the knockouts incredibly difficult. A four-match winless-run in Bengaluru has already left them with little option but to turn their fortunes and win all the games of the Delhi leg, and still live in hope.

Interestingly, it has been their inexperienced bowling which has been their strongest suit so far. On paper, they possess possibly the most dangerous top and middle order, with four of their five overseas options providing that muscle. However, they have scored only 273 runs in 240 balls across four games. To make matters worse, the injury list is only piling up and the fielding show just worsened with four dropped catches in the previous game.

Up against them on Wednesday would be RCB, a team that put up its finest performance in their previous game against UPW. But for a change, they won't have a 25,000-plus crowd egging them on and serving as their 12th player. They have been inconsistent at times and have their set of concerns yet to be addressed. Can the Beth Mooney-led side pounce on that opportunity?

When: Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

What to expect: Jon Lewis, the UPW coach, has been told that dew could play a role in the games in New Delhi. With short boundaries, expect good players of spin to make merry.

Team News:

Gujarat Giants: Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol had missed out of the previous game due to their undisclosed injuries. Dayalan Hemalatha was also hit on her head while attempting to take catch and was replaced due to concussion. It remains to be seen if any of the three players would be fit and available for the next game.

Probable XI: Beth Mooney, Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Veda Krishnamurthy, Ash Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Katherine Bryce, Tanuja Kanwer, Sneh Rana, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh

Royal Challengers Bangalore: The move to bring S Meghana to open the innings worked out well in the previous game and they might want to continue with it. There is no confirmation on whether Shreyanka Patil, who missed the previous game due to an injury, would be available.

Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, S Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Sophie Devine, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Simran Bahadur, Shreyanka Patil, S Asha, Renuka Thakur

What they said:

"Consistency (is what we need). We've been a little bit up and down over the past five games Our good has been pretty good. But when we haven't got it quite right, it's been pretty bad" - Georgia Wareham on RCB's performances so far.

"We trust the process, the dressing room atmosphere is pretty positive. You can see the intent which has come out. If the process is not right, you won't look at the intent" - Nooshin Al Khadeer, Gujarat Giants' bowling coach, following the team's fourth consecutive loss.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women Squad: Sabbhineni Meghana, Smriti Mandhana(c), Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh(w), Sophie Devine, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Ekta Bisht, Simran Bahadur, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh, Kate Cross, Nadine de Klerk, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokharkar, Shreyanka Patil

Gujarat Giants Squad: Beth Mooney(w/c), Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Veda Krishnamurthy, Ashleigh Gardner, Kathryn Bryce, Tanuja Kanwar, Tarannum Pathan, Meghna Singh, Sayali Satghare, Dayalan Hemalatha, Mannat Kashyap, Lea Tahuhu, Sneh Rana, Harleen Deol, Shabnam Md Shakil, Priya Mishra, Trisha Poojitha