Skipper Smriti Mandhana led from the front with an elegant half-century (96 from 61 balls) to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru crush Jemimah Rodrigues-led Delhi Capitals side by eight wickets on Saturday (January 17) in Navi Mumbai and register their fourth win on the trot in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026. Whereas half-centuries from Meg Lanning and Phoebie Litchfield helped UP Warriorz secure their second straight win over defending champions Mumbai Indians.
The 2024 WPL champions continue to lead the five-team standings, while Delhi Capitals are at the bottom of the table with three defeats from four matches.
Explosive opener Shafali Verma struck a fine half-century to single-handedly guide DC to 166 all out after being sent in to bat.
Shafali (62 off 41 balls, 5x4s, 4x6s) played her shots in a counterattacking display after DC were down 74 for 6.
But Shafali’s effort was overshadowed by Mandhana’s knock as RCB overhauled the target in 18.2 overs.
Mandhana (96 off 61 balls) and Georgia Voll (54 not out off 42 balls) held fort and shared match-winning 142 runs for the second wicket to set the platform for RCB’s win with 10 balls to spare.
Mandhana was the aggressor among the duo as the left-handed opener played her shots. Voll, on the other hand, played the second fiddle.
The duo batted with composure and collected the runs with ease to set the platform for the comfortable chase.
While Mandhana decorated her knock with 13 boundaries and three hits over the fence, Voll, who played slowly initially, picked up the pace as the match progressed and hit five fours and two sixes during her 42-ball knock.
Mandhana fell four runs short of her century, brilliantly caught by debutant Lucy Hamilton off Nandani Sharma but by then the damage was already done.
UPW win
Captain Lanning and fellow Australian Litchfield struck dominating half centuries to set up UP Warriorz’s comprehensive 22-run win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the afternoon match played at DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.
Sent in to bat, Lanning (70) and Litchfield (61) made Mumbai bowling look ordinary with their impressive batting and shared 119 runs for the second wicket off just 76 balls to take UP Warriorz to 187 for 8.
Chasing 188, Mumbai struggled all throughout with their top batters failing to make it count. Openers Hayley Matthews (13) and Sajeevan Sajana (10) fell at the same team score of 23 while one-down Nat Sciver-Brunt (15) and Nicola Carey (6) were also dismissed in quick succession.
Mumbai were 62 for 4 at the halfway mark, needing more than 12 runs an over to overhaul the target.
To make matters worse for Mumbai, captain Harmanpreet Kaur (18) was out in the 11th over off the bowling of Chloe Tryon.
By then, Mumbai were 69 for 5 and their run chase had gone haywire. But Amanjot Kaur (41 off 24 balls) and Amelia Kerr (49 not out off 28 balls) gave a valiant late resistance with a 83-run partnership for the sixth wicket but it was too late in the day.
Mumbai ended at 165 for 6 in 20 overs to lose the match.
(With inputs from PTI)
