The Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women have defeated the Gujarat Giants fairly comfortably, keeping their winning streak alive in the Women’s Premier League 2026.
Tonight’s game was Match 9 of WPL 2025, played at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Giants, who had won their last two games themselves, won the toss and, to no one’s surprise, decided to bowl first.
RCB Women Beat Gujarat Giants In Match 9 of WPL 2026
The inning began poorly for RCB-W. While they scored quick runs at the beginning, opener Grace Harris was dismissed in the second over after a fine start to her batting. Harris was caught before the wickets by Kashvee Gautam.
Then, in the fourth over, No. 3 batter Dayalan Hemalatha got out for four off eight, dismissed by Gautam as well. Skipper Smriti Mandhana, who was the other Royal Challengers’ opener, got out after making just five runs in eight balls at the hands of Renuka Singh in the fifth over. And before the end of the powerplay, Gautami Naik was dismissed by Sophie Devine for nine off six.
At the end of the six-over mark, RCB was reeling at 45/4 and was in desperate need of a big partnership. That came in the form of all-rounder Radha Yadav and wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh. Not only did the two stabilize the innings for the next 10 overs, but they also kept the run rate sufficiently high.
By the time Ghosh was dismissed in the 17th over by Georgia Wareham for 44 off 28, the team’s score was 148/5, with three-and-a-half overs remaining. The one who made the most of the death overs was South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who made 26 off 12 before getting out in the final over, dismissed by Sophie Devine.
Yadav was dismissed in the final over as well after scoring 68 off 47. She was the highest scorer of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women’s team, which at the end of its allotted 20 overs stood at a respectable total of 182/7.
Up until this point in WPL 2026, every team that won the toss decided to bat first. There was solid reasoning behind that. So far this season, all but thrice has a team that chased, not won the game. On one occasion, too, I saw the team batting first score over 200 runs twice and 190+ once. So let’s see how the Gujarat Giants’ chase fared.
The second inning actually got off to a decent start, as the openers made 32 runs in the first three overs. Most of these runs, 25 of nine to be specific, were made by Beth Mooney.
However, in the fourth over, the other opener, Sophie Devine, got out for eight off 12, dismissed by Arundhati Reddy. Another wicket fell in the fifth over, as Mooney departed after scoring 27 off 14, caught behind in front of the wickets by Shreyanka Patil.
Still, at the end of the powerplay, the Giants looked fine at 44/2. A decent partnership here should have proven match-winning. But that partnership did not come, as Captain Ashleigh Gardner was caught out by Lauren Bell for three off six.
The fall of wickets never actually stopped during this inning. In the ninth over, Kanika Ahuja was dismissed by Patil for 16 off 14. Then, in the 11th over, Georgia Wareham departed, becoming Nadine de Klerk’s first wicket of the evening. And just like that, the GG-W score was 70/5 in the 11th over.
Bharati Fulmali dramatically raised the run rate from this point, but no one properly supported her from the other end. Kashvee Gautam was dismissed by Shreyanka Patil in the 16th, and by the 17th over, even Fulmali departed for 39 off 20.
With seven wickets down, the Gujarat Giants’ all-out was in sight. Tanuja Kanwar made 21 off 13 before her dismissal in the 19th, and Shivani Singh scored a duck in two deliveries, while Renuka Singh made two off three. The whole team was dismissed on the second-to-last ball of the 19th over for 150 runs.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru won Match 9 of WPL 2026 by 32 runs with seven balls to spare. For her fine inning of 66 off 47, Radha Yadav was named the Player of the Match. However, Shreyanka Patil made a solid claim for the title as well, bowling an excellent spell of 5/23.
With this win, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women stay at the top of the points table. With three wins in as many games, RCB-W has six points and the best net run rate in the league.
On the other hand, the Gujarat Giants have two wins, two losses, four points, and a negative net run rate in four games as they sit third on the points table.
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