Mumbai bowl but Harmanpreet continues to sit out; Perry returns for RCB

Toss Mumbai Indians chose to bowl vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Harmanpreet Kaur continued to be out due to a niggle for Mumbai Indians, who chose to bowl against hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"It has been easier to chase in this competition," Nat Sciver-Brunt, Mumbai's stand-in skipper, said. In all the nine matches of WPL 2024, captains winning the toss have opted to chase. Mumbai went in unchanged with Shabnim Ismail also continuing to nurse her niggle. Issy Wong and Humaira Kazi kept their spots in the XI.

RCB, meanwhile, welcomed Ellyse Perry back in the XI instead of Nadine de Klerk. The home team is coming on the back of a loss against Delhi Capitals, which was played on the same surface used for Saturday night. Anjum Chopra, assessing the pitch, observed that it was browner in colour and had dead grass, which should not bother batters. "It be more batters' night than bowlers," she quipped.

The square boundaries were almost equal from the centre - one side being 52 metres away while the other being 57 metres.

RCB are one of the two teams to have won a match in WPL 2024 while batting first. They will be playing one more match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, against UP Warriorz, on Monday.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Sophie Devine, 3 S Meghana, 4 Ellyse Perry 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Georgia Wareham, 7 Simran Bahadur, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Shreyanka Patil, 10 Asha Sobhana, 11 Renuka Singh

Mumbai Indians: 1 Hayley Matthews, 2 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 4 Amelia Kerr, 5 Pooja Vastrakar, 6 Issy Wong, 7 S Sajana, 8 Amanjot Kaur, 9 Humaira Kazi, 10 SB Keerthana, 11 Saika Ishaque