The players stride out to the middle.

Sophie Ecclestone: A quick turnaround, didn't play as well as we wanted to last night. We need to keep playing straight as batters and keep the stumps in play as we bowl.

Alice Capsey: It's been nice obviously to be in Delhi, home crowd, we managed to get out a couple of times, go find a couple of coffee shops, the girls had a bit of training yesterday. It's nice to be back out playing, hopefully we get a decent crowd in today as well. (Conditions - Bengaluru vs Delhi) It's just about adapting your game-plans to the different bowlers and each player has a different plan. It's really individual. If we can all perform individually, then hopefully we'll put on a decent team performance. (Threat today) Sophie (Ecclestone) is world number one for a reason. They've also got a wide variety of different bowlers. They've got their left-arm spinner and they are very spin-heavy. With the track that's spinning a little bit more, it might be a little more tricky than Bangalore. (Female who's had a big impact on her career) My mum, she supported me all the way through, have to go with her. She's still here, this is her last game, so hopefully we can get a win for her tonight.

Teams:

UP Warriorz (Playing XI): Alyssa Healy(w/c), Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Uma Chetry, Gouher Sultana, Saima Thakor

Delhi Capitals Women (Playing XI): Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia(w), Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu

Meg Lanning: We know that every team is capable of winning on the night. We want to play well tonight, a good challenge for us. It looked reasonably okay, fast outfield. Good to have an even boundary size. One change, Sutherland comes in.

Alyssa Healy: We are gonna have a bat tonight. Played on this wicket last night, hopefully we learn lessons from that. We know we have to win the last two fixtures. We haven't beaten Delhi. Two changes.

UP Warriorz have won the toss and have opted to bat

Pitch Report | Anjum Chopra and Woorkeri Raman: "Center pitch. Dimensions remain the same - 55 metres (square) on either side, down the ground will be tested for all the batters (65 metres). It's the same pitch which we had cricket played on last evening. The dynamics have completely changed once the WPL moved to Delhi. The average first innings score has gone up to 184. Teams are batting first, putting big scores, they are going onto win the games which leaves the bowlers under a lot of pressure. They've got to vary their pace and keep their lines consistent, they have to keep it simple and have to be very smart. A lot of captains are relying  on spinners, they've picked more wickets than the seam bowlers. A lot of spin being utilized on this surface. That's because they've picked up more wickets at less cost. The trend seems to have changed for the good, the same thing (batting first) could be happening this evening. Runs, runs, runs, that's the way to go on this pitch."

18:35 Local Time, 13:05 GMT, 18:35 IST: Three matches in Delhi this season and all have been won by the team batting first. Will that trend continue? Hello everyone and a warm welcome to the 15th match of WPL. Delhi Capitals have been the best side of the competition so far. After losing their opening game at the hands of the defending champions, Meg Lanning and Co. have now won four on the bounce. The table-toppers are one win away from progressing to the next round and their focus will be to seal the top spot as that'll ensure a direct qualification to the final. UP Warriorz, on the other hand, have blown hot and cold - two losses, followed by two wins and then once again they've lost two on the bounce. This is a crucial game for UP. The Capitals brushed aside the Warriorz when these two teams met earlier in the season and they also have a 3-0 head-to-head record. Can UP bring their A-game tonight? Let's find out; toss and team updates coming up shortly...

Preview

Jon Lewis, the UP Warriorz head coach, had made an honest confession at the conclusion of the Bengaluru leg of WPL 2024. "We've made lives a little hard for ourselves," he had said. "From now on, we need to win the majority of our games if not all."

Gujarat Giants' victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday night would've made life a little easier for them, but a loss against Mumbai Indians has mathematically ended their hopes of finishing at the top of the table.

Given that they now have only two wins in six games, that is not something they would be fretting over as much as the possibility of not finishing in the top three, or making it worse by ending with the wooden spoon.

Their next challenge - without a day's break - is up against the home side Delhi Capitals, who have not only been the closest-to-perfection team in the tournament, but also a side that UPW have never beaten previously. Their top order is firing, their spinners and pacers have played their parts, and they have shown the tendency to hold their nerves under pressure. Their position at the table is the best indicator of their performance.

UP Warriorz concerns aren't as much in batting and bowling as with their fielding, having dropped 12 catches so far in six games to go with misfields, missed stumpings and overthrows. With limited turnover time to practice under lights, that's an issue they could carry even in the next games, along with a morale-sapping defeat against the defending champions.

It's not do-or-die as yet, but to leave the hope of RCB coming second-best against the two best teams in the last two games wouldn't be an ideal scenario for them. And for that, they would need to do much better than their insipid performance on Thursday

When: Friday, March 8, 2024, 7:30 PM (IST)

Where: Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz, Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

What to expect: The pitch has played a little slow and low if the first two games, with help for the team batting first to post big totals. Dew hasn't played much of a part.

Team News:

Delhi Capitals: The current combination is playing just perfectly for DC, even as that would require them to leave out the likes of Annabel Sutherland, Poonam Yadav and Minnu Mani in the reserves.

Probable XI: Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu

UP Warriorz: The Alyssa Healy-led side has been largely productive in the bowling department, but needs an inspirational uplift in batting. Chamari Aththapathu hasn't been able to provide that firepower with the bat eventhough she has been effective with the ball. There would be a temptation to play Danni Wyatt in the hope of giving some freshness in the batting.

Probable XI: Alyssa Healy, Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Khenmar, Uma Chetry, Sophie Ecclestone, Anjali Sarvani/Saima Thakor, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

What they said:

This next game in Delhi against Delhi is a massive game for us as a team. We haven't won against them as yet in this competition. We need to work on the right formula to take them down. Hopefully, we can - Jon Lewis, UPW head coach, following the loss against RCB

"Wasn't the easiest of wickets, but was suitable for my type of batting. Learning from my past mistakes, was trying to go out there and be explosive. I went back after the Test match, worked on a few things coming into the WPL. Using the crease, timing the ball well, that was the game plan - Jemimah Rodrigues, DC batter, following her match-winning effort against MI

Squads:

Delhi Capitals Women Squad: Meg Lanning(c), Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Taniya Bhatia(w), Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Ashwani Kumari, Aparna Mondal, Sneha Deepthi, Annabel Sutherland, Laura Harris, Poonam Yadav

UP Warriorz Squad: Alyssa Healy(w/c), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Uma Chetry, Poonam Khemnar, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor, Gouher Sultana, Danielle Wyatt, Tahlia McGrath, Anjali Sarvani, Laxmi Yadav, Vrinda Dinesh, Parshavi Chopra, Soppadhandi Yashasri