The Women’s Premier League, WPL 2026 still has a lot of exciting T20 games to come.
On January 16, 2026, Match 9 will be one of the most exciting games of the season. At 7:30 PM IST, the Gujarat Giants Women (GG-W) will play the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women (RCB-W) at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. The two teams in this game are evenly matched, and it also has some of the best women’s cricket players in the world right now.
Because both teams want to stay in the middle of the standings, this game will be more than just a regular match. This game could have a big impact on the rest of the tournament.
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This season, the Gujarat Giants have gotten into a groove after starting off slowly in the past. They won their first two games of the season, which gave them an early lead and boosted their confidence. The Giants have always been good at sports, even though they lost a close game to the Mumbai Indians Women. The main reason for this is that they play well and do a lot of other things well.
The team will probably put together a balanced XI with both experienced international players and up-and-coming players from their own country. Gujarat has everything it needs to beat tough teams, like a disciplined bowling attack and key players like Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine who keep the batting going.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has also been in great form at WPL 2026. So far, RCB has been a great team; they’ve won both of their games. In their first game this season, they made a big statement by beating the UP Warriorz Women by nine wickets.
There are a lot of Indian and foreign players on RCB, and Smriti Mandhana is the stylish captain. She needs to be able to lead and hit well for the team. RCB can win games in a lot of different ways because they have players like Grace Harris and Richa Ghosh, as well as experienced bowlers like Radha Yadav and Nadine de Klerk (all-rounder).
Head-to-Head
One of the most interesting things about this game is that both teams have the same record when they play each other. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women and the Gujarat Giants Women have played each other six times in the WPL, and remarkably, each side has won three matches.
Their games have been exciting and unforgettable, with lots of goals and great individual performances. The most points a team has scored in these head-to-head games is 202/4, and the least is 107/7. This shows that the whether and the way the teams play can have a big effect on the outcome of each game.
RCB and Gujarat Giants have played each other six times, and each team has won three times. This shows that they have been very evenly matched over the years. Match 9 could be another great one, and either team could win.
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The Dr. DY Patil Stadium is now one of the best places to bat in WPL 2026. Batters have been able to score easily because the outfield is fast and the boundaries are short. In the evening, dew forms, which makes it hard to bowl in the second innings.
- Batting first: Good for setting a big total
- Chasing: Not tough due to dew factor later
- Expected average score: 160+ in 20 overs
- Toss strategy: Teams might prefer bowling first to exploit dew later.
In this type of game, both teams will want to bat deep and score a lot of runs or chase with confidence. This means that death bowlers and power hitters will be very important.
Key Players to Watch
Gujarat Giants Women
Beth Mooney (wk) – Mooney is a reliable batter who keeps the score moving when it matters and is the innings’ anchor. Mooney is hard to beat in high-pressure chases because she has played in a lot of big tournaments.
Sophie Devine(All rounder) -This season, she’s been great, pitching and hitting well. She is a real threat to win matches because she has scored more than 141 runs and taken a lot of wickets in just three games.
Ashleigh Gardner (all-rounder&Captain)- Ashleigh Gardner is a very good player in all areas. He is a key part of the Giants’ engine because he can hit hard and bowl well. One over can change the game, so she is one of the most dangerous players on the field.
Renuka Singh Thakur (bowler): The Indian fast bowler is very quick and swings the ball a lot, especially when it is new. She can hit early and put RCB in a bad spot right away.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women
Smriti Mandhana (c and batter): The captain’s play at the top of the order sets the tone for RCB. She is a key player for RCB’s success because of her graceful strokes and ability to find the edges.
Grace Harris (batter): Harris has shown explosive power, like when she hit 85 runs in one game, which helped RCB win by a lot.
Richa Ghosh (wk/finisher) – Ghosh is known for her fearless hitting and can change the pace of the game in a flash. She makes the Bengaluru team a lot stronger with her skills as a wicketkeeper and finisher.
Nadine de Klerk (all-rounder)-Nadine de Klerk is a player who can do everything. De Klerk has played very well this season. He got six wickets and scored 63 runs to win the game
Squads:
Gujarat Giants Women
Ashleigh Gardner (c), Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh Thakur, Bharti Fulmali, Titas Sadhu, Kashee Gautam, Kanika Ahuja, Tanuja Kanwer, Georgia Wareham, Anushka Sharma, Happy Kumari, Kim Garth, Yastika Bhatia, Shivani Singh, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ayushi Soni
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women
Smriti Mandhana (c), Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Georgia Voll, Nadine de Klerk, Radha Yadav, Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Grace Harris, Gautami Naik, Prathyoosha Kumar, D. Hemalatha, Sayali Satghare
In conditions that are good for big totals and where dew is likely to be a factor, the team that can handle pressure better and sticks to their bowling plans in the last few overs might have the edge.
The ninth match of WPL 2026 between the Gujarat Giants Women and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women will be a great show because there will be star batters, crafty bowlers, and a close rivalry. There are players on both teams who can win, and there is a lot of strategy involved, so this game could go all the way to the last over.
Expect batters to take charge at the start, bowlers to put up a strong fight in the middle, and exciting changes all the way to the end. You won’t want to miss this game if you like exciting T20 cricket.
