WPL 2023: GUJ-W vs RCB-W 6th Match - Predicted Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI vs Gujarat Giants

Both Gujarat Giants Women and Royal Challengers Bangalore Women will be targeting their maiden win in the sixth match of the Women's Premier League 2023 (WPL) on Wednesday (March 8). Gujarat Giants lost against UP Warriorz in their second game by just three wickets. Harleen Deol's 46 off 32 helped the Giants score 169/6 while batting first but Grace Haris pulled off a remarkable knock of 59* off 26 to help Warriorz chase the target with a ball to spare. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore's early struggles continued with another humiliating defeat against Mumbai Indians. They managed to score a fighting total of 155 runs while batting first with young wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh top-scoring with 28 off 26. But the bowlers failed miserably as Mumbai Indians chased the target in just 14.2 overs against the loss of only one wicket.

The Giants are struggling at the bottom of the table while the Royal Challengers are in the fourth position with no points. Both teams will be looking to alter their playing XI for the upcoming game to register their maiden win in WPL 2023 on Wednesday.

Here is Royal Challengers Bangalore's Predicted XI against Gujarat Giants:

Openers: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Devine

Smriti Mandhana started well against Mumbai Indians by smashing five fours but was not able to convert it into a big knock. She leads the scoring chart for RCB with 58 runs from the first two games at an impressive strike rate of 145.00 but definitely needs to add much more of it in the upcoming games to keep RCB in the hunt.

Sophie Devine's poor form with both bat and ball continued as she scored only 16 runs and conceded 11 runs from her only over against Mumbai Indians. She has scored only 49 runs and hasn't taken any wicket in her last five overall T20 innings. RCB have Chole Tryon in their Arsenal and they might consider a change in their playing XI if the Kiwi skipper fails to impress against the Giants on Wednesday.

In both their earlier games, the two openers fell in quick succession. They went out playing rash shots after a brief but quick transaction of runs in both the matches. RCB and the two openers in particular, will be looking to not repeat the same in their match against Gujarat and buy time to help the team put up a good total.

Middle order: Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (wk)

Disha Kasat was bowled out on a duck against Mumbai Indians after scoring just nine off 11 against Delhi Capitals in RCB's opening game. The 25-year-old right-handed batter needs to contribute more to remain in the playing XI for the remainder of the tournament.

Ellyse Perry smashed a six and a four and seemed in the mood for a big knock against Mumbai Indians in the last game but was unfortunate to run herself out after a terrible mix-up with Richa Ghosh. Perry has scored 44 runs from the first two games and is yet to take a wicket in the tournament.

Knight was bowled out on a golden duck on an unplayable delivery by Hayley Matthews in the match against Mumbai. She was excellent in the opening game against Delhi Capitals with two wickets and a 34-run knock. Richa Ghosh, on the other hand, top-scored with 28 off 26 against Mumbai Indians after scoring just two runs against the Capitals in the first match. She surely needs to be more responsible as the franchise spent big bucks to acquire her services at the WPL 2023 auction. 

All-rounders: Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil

Kanika Ahuja, the 20-year-old batting all-rounder, displayed her big-hitting skills against Mumbai Indians in the last game. She smashed 22 off 13 deliveries with the help of three fours and one six but didn't get a chance to bowl. 

Shreyanka Patil, the off-spin all-rounder, made her debut for RCB in the last game and was able to leave a mark. She smashed 23 off 15 balls with four fours to place her contention for a place in the playing XI against Gujarat Giants. However, she proved to be the most expensive bowler for her team by conceding 32 runs from just two overs.

While Patil's batting helped RCB put up a decent total on the board, she failed to replicate the same with the ball. Patil would thus be looking to deliver more holistic performances in the remainder of the tournament whereas Ahuja, too, would be raring to deliver a match-winning performance either with bat or ball.

Bowlers: Megan Schutt, Renuka Singh, Preeti Bose

Meghan Schutt conceded 32 runs at an economy rate of 10.7 against Mumbai Indians without any success. This came after she failed to pick up a scalp in the first match against Delhi. After two matches, the third highest wicket-taker of the recently concluded T20 World Cup remains wicketless for her franchise. She has, however, contributed with the bat, scoring 50 runs from two innings at a strike rate of 151.51 with eight boundaries. 

Renuka Singh also struggled for wickets against Mumbai Indians and proved costly in her three-over spell. She, too, is yet to take a wicket in the tournament and only has 1 wicket from her last four T20 outings.

Preeti Bose was the only bowler to take a wicket against Mumbai Indians and also had a decent show on the economic front. The left-arm spinner is the only RCB bowler who bowled all eight overs of her quota in the opening two games, while maintaining an economy rate of 8.62.

RCB-W Predicted XI against GUJ-W: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sophie Devine, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil, Megan Schutt, Renuka Singh, Preeti Bose