3 things going wrong for RCB in WPL 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) horror run in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 continued as they went down to Delhi Capitals (DC) by six wickets in match number 11 on Monday, March 13.

Asked to bat first after losing the toss at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai, RCB were held to 150/4. They did well to recover from 63/3 courtesy of impressive knocks from Ellyse Perry (67 off 52) and Richa Ghosh (37 off 16).

Bangalore, however, did not have enough runs on the board as Delhi chased down the target in 19.4 overs. Megan Schutt gave the bowling side hope by knocking over Shafali Verma for a golden duck.

However, Alice Capsey (38 off 24), Jemimah Rodrigues (32 off 28), and Marizanne Kapp (32* off 32) kept Delhi in the hunt before Jess Jonassen (29* off 15) did a brilliant finishing job.

RCB’s loss to Delhi was their fifth in a row and they have been all but eliminated from WPL 2023. They only have a slim mathematical chance of qualifying for the Eliminator.

In the wake of their disastrous performance in WPL 2023, we analyze three things that are going wrong for the franchise.

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#1 Smriti Mandhana’s poor form

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Smriti Mandhana. Pic: Twitter

When Smriti Mandhana was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore at the WPL 2023 auction for ₹3.4 crore - the most expensive buy - there was plenty of hype and expectations.

After all, Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur are the two biggest names in Indian women’s cricket today. Unfortunately, for RCB, it has been quite an anti-climax.

In five matches, she has scored only 88 runs at a paltry average of 17.60 and a strike rate of 117.33. Mandhana began WPL 2023 on a promising note, with 35 off 23 in Bangalore’s first match against Delhi.

However, it has all gone downhill for her since. In subsequent matches, she has registered scores of 23, 18, four, and eight.

In the match against Delhi on Monday, she faced 15 balls for her eight runs, hitting just one four.

RCB have been expecting explosive starts from their captain, who opens the innings. But it’s just not happening for Mandhana, as a result of which Bangalore have been starting off on the wrong foot.

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#2 RCB batters' inability to convert starts

Bangalore’s batters have been below par. Pic: wplt20.com

While some of the other RCB batters have done better than Mandhana, overall as well, the franchise have failed as a batting unit.

In most matches, they have been unable to build on decent starts. In their last game against Delhi, they had to play catch-up after getting off to a very slow start in the first half.

In short, Bangalore have failed to put up a solid batting effort in any of their 2023 WPL matches so far.

Looking at individual performances, Ellyse Perry has scored 195 runs from five games at an average of 48.75 and a strike rate of 137.32, with two fifties.

However, there has not been much in the form of performances from others. Sophie Devine has totaled 153 runs, but barring a half-century against Gujarat Giants (GG), she too has failed to convert her starts.

Ghosh played an excellent cameo in the last match against Delhi but hadn’t done much before that. Heather Knight has also scored a couple of impressive 30s.

A lot more was expected of the dynamic duo. As a batting unit, RCB haven’t gelled all that well.

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#3 Lack of discipline in bowling

Renuka Singh Thakur has picked up only one wicket. Pic: wplt20.com

Heading into WPL 2023, RCB’s bowling attack was considered one of the finest in the competition. Megan Schutt, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, and Sophie Devine are proven performers. But like the batting, Bangalore’s bowling too has been a major letdown.

The bowlers have conceded over 200 runs in two of their five matches. They have also failed to claim too many wickets, causing headaches for Mandhana as captain.

In their first match, RCB claimed only two wickets in 20 overs and just one in their next game against Mumbai Indians (MI).

While Bangalore managed to pick up seven wickets against Gujarat, they ended up conceding 201 runs.

The franchise had only 138 runs to defend against UP Warriorz (UPW), but ending wicketless in 13 overs translates to quite a listless performance.

Looking at individual stats, Renuka has only one wicket to her name from five games, while Schutt has two from four matches.

Perry has batted well but has no wickets to show for her bowling efforts. Be it batting or bowling, things just haven’t fallen into place for RCB.

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