Lanning returns to face a team she led to three WPL finals

Winless in two games so far, Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz will both be desperate to arrest early-season jitters and open their account when they face off on Wednesday (January 14) in a crucial league encounter - the first of the two closed-door matches in Navi Mumbai this week.

Delhi's losses have been polar opposite. They were blown away by Mumbai Indians by 50 runs in their season opener, and then fell just four runs short in a massive 209-run chase against Gujarat Giants. DC, the runners-up last-three seasons, have shown flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency in key moments. Their new-look top-order struggled to convert starts in the first game, and a continuing concern is lack of runs from both new captain Jemimah Rodrigues and star opener Shafali Verma.

Their overseas batters, the South African duo of Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt, nearly carried them through against a record target but the failure to get seven off the last over might haunt them as the season progresses. The batting needs to click as a collective unit, and much of that will depend on their experienced core stepping up under pressure.

That said, they have unearthed a new bowling gem in Nandni Sharma who became only the second Indian in the league to claim a WPL hat-trick, and went on to register a fifer in the same game. She's led the bowling charge ahead of the superstars in the line-up.

UP Warriorz, too, gave GG's 200+ target a good chase but fell short by 10 runs before a batting collapse of 5 for 29 in the space of four overs cost them two more points against RCB. In two games, UPW have already tested two different opening partners for skipper Meg Lanning, the frequent tinkering being an area of concern from the past season.

The bowling too - featuring an all-capped attack - has come under the scanner after conceding runs aplenty. If the 200+ they conceded in Game 1 can be attributed partially to the conditions, the attack looked completely at sea as Grace Harris-led RCB took them to the cleaners completing the 145-run chase in just over 12 overs.

With both teams eager to avoid slipping further behind in the points table, expect a high-intensity contest where execution in crunch moments could make all the difference.

When:Wednesday, January 14 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

What to expect: With heavy dew around, chasing remains a captain's preferred choice even though it has fetched mixed results. The conditions remain suitable for another high-scoring game.

Team News

Delhi Capitals: DC have stuck with the XI despite the defeats, and might just do the same going into the third game. Sneh Rana has proved expensive but there isn't an alternative on the bench unless they change their overseas makeup to hand a debut to legspinner Alana King.

Probable XI:Lizelle Lee (wk), Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (c), Marizanne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Nandni Sharma, Shree Charani

UP Warriorz:The opening experiments side, UPW have fielded their strongest XI so far and would likely back it again to get them off the mark.

Probable XI: Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (c), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Deepti Sharma, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Shikha Pandey, Asha Sobhana, Kranti Gaud