Having suffered a heartbreak in their homecoming last weekend, a smarting Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be looking to maximise their ‘home’ advantage when they lock horns with a rejuvenated UP Warriorz in a Women’s Premier League clash here on Monday.Unlike the Indian Premier League, where every team is guaranteed seven home games under normal circumstances during the league phase where they try to extract most of the advantage, the WPL doesn’t extend the same benefit for the five participating franchises.In its third edition, WPL, which was played in just Mumbai in 2023 and then in Bengaluru and New Delhi last season, has widened its reach this season to four cities. RCB are scheduled to play four games in total at their own bastion, giving them a slight upper hand.Gujarat Giants got to play only three games in the opening leg at Vadodara, UP Warriorz get the same number in Lucknow when the jamboree moves there from the Garden City, while Mumbai Indians, not counting the Eliminator and final, have just two pencilled in at the historic Brabourne in the home stretch. So, RCB, with 4 points from 3 games and on top of the table on virtue of a better run-rate (+0.835), will be seeking nothing less than 6 points this week starting with UP Warriorz, aware of the strong competition for the three play-off spots.It’s no surprise that RCB will be banking heavily on their star-studded batters to get the job done. Captain Smriti Mandhana, who has massive fan following here after having guided RCB to title triumph last season—something which even their highly celebrated male counterparts haven’t in 17 IPLs—has been in good recent form for country and club. So is her opening partner Danni Wyatt-Hodge, one-drop Ellyse Perry, and middle-order whipper Richa Ghosh.
