Last Updated on 3 months ago by Charbel Coorey
The good times continue for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with their magnificent women’s team sealing their second Women’s Premier League (WPL) title. A Smriti Mandhana masterclass led the way as they achieved a magnificent run chase of 204 with two deliveries to spare against Delhi Capitals (DC).
The outstanding Mandhana slammed 87 off just 41 balls, combining with the talented Georgia Voll (79 off 54 balls) to break the back of the run chase with a 165-run stand off just 92 balls. By the time Voll was dismissed, RCB needed 30 off 21 deliveries with eight wickets still in hand.
DC managed to fight back and restrict RCB to 22 off the next 17 deliveries, leaving them with eight needed off the final four balls. Radha Yadav produced two magnificent shots over cover to seal the victory and spark huge celebrations.
Earlier, Lauren Bell produced a magnificent bowling display. The opening bowler went wicketless, but conceding just 19 from her four overs in a 200 vs. 200 match proved pivotal. Mandhana was full of praise for Bell, along with Voll.
“Of course, 200-plus in the final is definitely a good score. I thought that in the last four overs, we definitely bowled well and pulled it [back] a little better. Again, credit to Lauren Bell. I mean, 400 [runs scored] in a match and she goes for like four overs, 20-odd runs. That, for me, is a match-winning spell,” Mandhana said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“Volly led the way. She had almost all the strike in the powerplay, but her intent was really spot-on. And I remember telling the girls 10 or 15 days back that I have a feeling that Volly will get a match-winning knock in the final and [I’m] really happy, really happy for her.
“She’s been working extremely hard on her game. I saw her practicing extra in the last two-three days. So I’m happy that it came, it paid off for her.”
For DC, it is yet another case of wasn’t meant to be. Incredibly, this is now the fourth-straight final they have lost. They would have been feeling mighty positive at the innings break, but they had to make inroads into the RCB top order. They dismissed the dangerous Grace Harris early, but couldn’t land a punch for a long time afterwards.
DC will now need to pick themselves up for the next season. Captain Jemimah Rodrigues was extremely proud of her team.
“I think I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” she said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “It wasn’t easy for us, but the kind of character our girls showed for us to just make it to the finals is something I’m so proud of. And you know, I couldn’t ask for anything better.
“Hats off to the way we played as a team. I think we’ve been great. You know, if ever you wanted our team to fire and click, it was today. And I think we did that really well. There’s always, you know, ‘okay, we could have done this better, that better.’ But I think everyone fought hard, everyone gave their all, and sometimes that’s all that’s important.”
Reactions to WPL 2026 Final: RCB become first team to win WPL title twice
It is another great day in what has been an outstanding few years for RCB and their passionate fans. They have become the second team to win the WPL title twice, and first team to hold both the IPL and WPL titles at the same time.
“RCB were just too good throughout the tournament Feel for DC , 4 finals on the trot , that’s an amazing achievement in itself and they’ve found a long term leader in JEMI. But more importantly this is a win for WOMEN’S cricket. The standards have gone through the roof,” wrote Dinesh Karthik on X (formerly Twitter).
DC had contributions right down the order in their score of 203/4. Laura Wolvaardt’s 44 came at a strike rate of 176 – the best of DC’s top four. Chinelle Henry then finished the innings superbly, smashing an unbeaten 35 off 15 balls.
RCB, however, who finished top of the WPL 2026 table, showed their class en route to their second WPL title. They were outstanding throughout the tournament and thoroughly deserve their win.
