RCB opt to field, bring in Vastrakar for Naik

Toss Royal Challengers Bengaluru chose to bowl vs UP Warriorz

Pooja Vastrakar returned to action for the first time in 15 months after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) brought her in for Gautami Naik in the game against UP Warriorz (UPW) in Vadodara. Vastrakar last played for India at the T20 World Cup in 2024.

RCB captain Smriti Mandhana, who opted to bowl, confirmed that Vastrakar would play as a batter only and that her "bowling will take time to come back". Naik, who batted at No. 4 in this season, had three single-digit scores apart from her maiden WPL half-century. That was the only change for RCB, who sealed their playoffs qualification but are coming on the back of successive defeats.

UPW straightaway handed a cap to England wicketkeeper Amy Jones, who was brought in as an injury replacement for Phoebe Litchfield. Jones played with UPW captain Meg Lanning at Melbourne Stars in WBBL 2025-26. While she played at No. 3 for Stars, she is likely to open the batting with Lanning after UPW dropped Kiran Navgire, who had three ducks in six innings.

Simran Shaikh, who showed a glimpse of her power-hitting in the middle-order with Gujarat Giants last season, was also brought in for her first match of WPL 2026.

With two wins and four defeats, UPW are at the bottom of the points table and are practically in a must-win territory for their remaining two games to stay in contention for the playoffs.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Grace Harris, 2 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 3 Georgia Voll, 4 Pooja Vastrakar, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Radha Yadav, 7 Nadine de Klerk, 8 Sayali Satghare, 9 Arundhati Reddy, 10 Shreyanka Patil, 11 Lauren Bell

UP Warriorz: 1 Meg Lanning (capt), 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Shweta Sehrawat, 5 Chloe Tryon, 6 Simran Shaikh, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Asha Sobhana, 10 Shikha Pandey, 11 Kranti Gaud