New Delhi. In the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) will face each other in the final on Thursday. On one hand, RCB would like to equal Mumbai Indians (MI) by winning the title for the second time under the captaincy of Smriti Mandhana, while on the other hand, Delhi Capitals will aim to erase the stain of losing the finals thrice.

That means either WPL will get a new champion, or history will be equal. The special thing is that during this time, two special friends and captains of both the teams, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues will also be face to face with each other.

RCB’s journey this season has been no less than a dream. The team has set a new example in WPL history by winning five consecutive matches. Making a comeback in difficult situations has become the identity of this team. Australia’s Grace Harris gained momentum by playing an explosive innings of 75 runs against UP Warriors, while Gautami Naik laid the foundation of a big win of 61 runs by scoring 73 runs against Gujarat Giants.

Although batsmen like Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Georgia Woll and Harris lacked consistency, contributions at the right time kept the team strong. In bowling, Nadine de Klerk and Sayli Satghare have made an impact on important occasions. De Klerk is the third most successful bowler of the tournament with 15 wickets in 8 matches, while Shreyanka Patil taking five wickets against Gujarat shows the depth of the team.

This final is like ‘do or die’ for Delhi Capitals. Under the leadership of new captain Jemimah Rodrigues, the team will enter with the intention of winning the title for the first time. In bowling, Chinelle Henry and Nandini Sharma have wreaked havoc with the new ball. Nandini is the second wicket-taker with 16 wickets and has become a strong contender for a place in the Indian team.

In batting, Liezel Lee and Shefali Verma played an important partnership in the eliminator, while Laura Wolvaardt has proved to be the backbone of the team throughout the season. The strong core of South African players and the mutual coordination of the team has given Delhi the strength to survive even under pressure. Now it remains to be seen whether Mandhana’s balanced RCB will create history or Jemima’s Delhi will finally be able to break the wall of the final.

Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues (captain), Tania Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Lucy Hamilton, Chinelle Henry, Marizanne Kapp, Alana King, Lizelle Lee, Minnu Mani, Nikki Prasad, Sneh Rana, Shefali Verma, Nandani Sharma, Sri Charani, Pragati Singh, Edla Srijana, Laura Wolvaardt.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Lauren Bell, Nadine Declercq, Richa Ghosh (wk), Grace Harris, Dayalan Hemlata, Gautami Naik, Shreyanka Patil, Kumar Pratyusha, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Sayali Satghare, Linsey Smith, Pooja Vastrakar, Georgia Wall, Radha Yadav.