Delhi Capitals in WPL 2026 - (Source: X.com)
On Thursday, February 5, the Delhi Capitals will lock horns against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the much-awaited final of the WPL 2026. The two teams will square off at the Vadodara Cricket Stadium. The Smriti Mandhana-led side are eyeing their 2nd title, while Jemimah Rodrigues is looking to end the title curse for the Capitals.
For the uninitiated, RCB topped the group stage with six wins and secured a direct spot in the final. Meanwhile, the Capitals had to grind their way. The Jemimah Rodrigues-led side beat UP Warriorz in the group stage to qualify for the eliminator and then handed Gujarat Giants a seven-wicket defeat to enter the final.
Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru WPL 2026 final preview
Talking about the final, both teams are ready and have no injury concerns to manage. RCB are coming fresh off a long break, while the Capitals are tired because of consistent cricket in the past week. The last time these two teams met at the same venue was on January 24 where the Capitals handed RCB a comfortable 7 wicket defeat.
In the last encounter at this venue, RCB, batting first, tumbled for just 109 runs, courtesy of three-wicket haul from Nandani Sharma. In reply, the Capitals chased down the total with seven wickets in hand.
However, since the last match against RCB, Delhi have made a few changes to their playing XI and the question remains the same whether Jemimah Rodrigues will opt for a few changes in the final or not. Therefore, this article will shed light on Capitals' playing XI for the WPL final on Thursday, February 5.
Top Order: Lizelle Lee, Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues
Delhi have one of the most sorted top-orders compared to other teams. The opening pair of Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma has been brilliant and explosive. Even in the eliminator against Gujarat Giants, the duo stitched an 89-run stand for the opening wicket and that too in just 42 balls.
Talking about the openers, Lizelle has 283 runs in nine innings, while the India star has 239 runs in nine innings.
While Lee and Shafali are the explosive batters, DC have Laura and Jemimah at No.3 and No.4 to perform the anchor role, which has actually worked for the Capitals in this season. The Proteas captain has 273 runs, while the skipper herself has 207 runs, averaging 29.57.
Middle Order: Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani
Delhi Capitals have a decent middle-order, which is yet to explode and win games for the four times finalists. Notably, Kapp has had a brilliant season with the ball with 10 wickets in nine games, but has only amassed 49 runs with the bat. Therefore, the Capitals will be expecting a lot from her.
Similarly, Chinelle Henry rose with the bat in the opening game, but other than that, she has been in and out of the team because of injury concerns, but in recent games, has performed more with the ball than the bat.
Niki Prasad has also had an underwhelming season and amassed just 75 runs in four innings. Her best performance came against Gujarat Giants on January 27, when she scored 47 (24).
Bowlers: Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma
Sneh Rana is struggling with just a solitary wickets in nine innings, but still the Capitals won't make any change to their playing XI because things have been going right for them and they don't believe in fixing something that is not broken.
On the other hand, Shree Charani and Nandani Sharma have been Delhi's best performers with 30 combined wickets. Nandani is the 2nd leading-wicket taker in WPL 2026 and also scripted history by taking the most wickets by an Indian in a season (16).
Delhi Capitals' predicted playing XI for WPL 2026 final vs RCB
Lizelle Lee (Wk), Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (C), Marizanne Kapp, Nikki Prasad, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma
.jpg?type=mq "End of road for Sanju Samson")
