The Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women’s Team comfortably defeated the UP Warriorz in match 5 of the Women’s Premier League 2026, winning the game by nine wickets.
Tonight’s match was played at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium and saw RCB-W win the toss and decide to bowl first, which has become a trend at this stadium.
RCB-W Thrashed UPW-W in Match 5 WPL 2026
To open the batting for the Warriorz, in came Harleen Deol and captain Meg Lanning. The two openers in the first inning, like the rest of the tournament so far, got off to a slow and steady start, scoring 13 runs in the first three overs.
In the fourth, Lanning picked up the pace of her, to that point, snail-paced inning. The fifth over brought the first wicket of the game, as Lauren Bell dismissed Deol for 11 off 14, caught at mid-on.
The powerplay ended with the skipper at the crease with fellow Aussie Phoebe Litchfield, and the score being 36/1. Lanning departed soon after, falling victim to Shreyanka Patil’s flighted delivery for 14 off 21.
This commenced a collapse of the UPW-W batting order, as Litchfield departed later in that over for 20 off 11, Kiran Navgire was dismissed by Nadine de Klerk on the first ball of the ninth over for five off three, and wicketkeeper Shweta Sehrawat got out on the very next delivery for a golden duck.
Now at 50/5 in the ninth over, the Warriorz were in deep trouble and needed a solid partnership to take them out of this quagmire. The saviour came in the form of a 93-run partnership between all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Deandra Dottin. The two remained unbeaten at the end of the inning. While Sharma made 45 off 35, Dottin made 40 off 37.
The UP innings ended at 143/5 at the end of their 20. While this score was low, it was still defensible. However, the chase that followed was going to be much different from the first inning of this match.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru sent out the formidable duo of Grace Harris and captain Smriti Mandhana to open the batting. This opening partnership very nearly won the match by itself. This 137-run partnership lasted for just over 11 overs. By the time Harris got out, she had made 85 off 40 at an insane strike rate of 212.50.
The sixth over of this inning, bowled by Deandra Dottin, was a standout. The West Indies cricketer conceded 32 runs in the final over of the powerplay. The over included three sixes, three fours, a no-ball, and a wide, all scored by Grace Harris. This was the joint-most-expensive over in WPL history.
A few balls after Harris’ dismissal, Smriti Mandhana hit the winning runs as RCB-W won the match by nine wickets with 47 deliveries to spare. Mandhana ended the match with an unbeaten 47 off 32.
With this win, the Royal Challengers now have two victories in as many games. With four points and the best net run rate in the league, they are at the top of the league table.
For her exceptional innings of 85 off 40, Grace Harris was named the Player of the Match. She also scored the joint-fourth-fastest fifty in WPL history, reaching the milestone in just 22 balls.
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