WPL Final: Jemimah’s fighting DC aims to end title wait against Smriti’s dominant RCB

VADODARA: History beckons both Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the 2024 champions, and Delhi Capitals (DC), led by Indian stars Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues, respectively, as they clash in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) final at Vadodara on Thursday.

If DC, making their fourth final appearance wins the title, it would be their first WPL and franchise cricket title and skipper Jemimah will continue her golden run which started from semifinals of 2025 Women’s WC. However, a win for RCB would give them their first-ever double of holding the IPL and WPL titles simultaneously and their third franchise cricket title.

-Catches and run-chases strengths of DC
As per CricViz, a cricket data and statistics provider, DC enjoys the best fielding efficiency this season with 83 per cent, including 41 successful catches and just eight dropped catches.

Also, they are a fighting unit during the run-chases, having won all five of their matches this season while chasing a target.

-A historic edge for the Capitals
Since the tournament’s inception, it is the winner of the eliminator has won the trophy.

-Laura Wolvaardt: Delhi’s trusted spin basher
Against spin this season, the South African star has made the best use of her Indian experience during the Women’s WC run, where she scored a record-breaking 571 runs in nine matches.

Wolvaardt has scored 170 runs in 123 balls against tweakers and has been dismissed twice, giving her an average of 85.0. Striking at 138.2, she has produced 14 fours and five sixes against spin.

-Skipper Jemimah peaking at the right time
The Indian star had a nightmarish Navi Mumbai leg, managing just 41 runs in four innings. This was ironically the same place where her 127* against Australia in WC semifinals helped in a historic 339-run-chase.

But now in Vadodara, Jemimah has peaked with scores of 51*, 24, 16, 34* and 41, which amounts to 166 runs in five innings at an average of 55.33. One more clutch knock will immortalise her name in WPL history books as a winning captain.

-Beware of Lizelle-Shafali
For DC, a lot hinges on how their opening pair of Lizelle Lee (283 in nine matches at an average of 31.44 with a strike rate of 141.50 and two fifties) and Shafali Varma (239 runs in nine matches at an average of 26.55, strike rate of 123.19 with a fifty) operates. If they cross the half-century partnership mark, its curtains for the opposition as suggested by a perfect 3-0 win loss record whenever Lizelle, Shafali stuck around together for at least 50 runs.

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐏𝐋 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 pic.twitter.com/vvgxeLU7vR

— CricketGully (@thecricketgully) February 3, 2026

-RCB is full of match-winners
For RCB, there have been different match-winners throughout the tournament, with five different players winning the ‘Player of the Match’: Nadine de Klek, Grace Harris (twice), skipper Smriti, Radha Yadav and uncapped Gautami Naik.

-Merciless Grace Harris tops strike rate charts
While she has had a dull patch, Grace, who has made 228 runs in nine matches at an average of 28.50 and a strike rate of over 180, tops the strike rate among batters having faced atleast 50 balls this season. On her day, she sends everything racing to the boundary and is a pure entertainer and match-winner.

-RCB has excellent death overs numbers
RCB have the best death overs economy of 8.27, with DC close second at 8.37.

-Smriti chases the 1,000 run mark
The RCB skipper is just 64 runs away from becoming the fifth batter with 1,000 or more WPL runs, currently at 936 runs in 34 matches and innings at an average of 132.39, with six fifties.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals Women Squad: Lizelle Lee(w), Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues(c), Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, Niki Prasad, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Alana King, Taniya Bhatia, Lucy Hamilton, Pragati Singh, Eddla Srujana

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women Squad: Grace Harris, Smriti Mandhana(c), Georgia Voll, Richa Ghosh(w), Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Sayali Satghare, Shreyanka Patil, Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith, Dayalan Hemalatha, Prathyoosha Kumar, Gautami Naik, Prema Rawat. (ANI)