A record-breaking innings by Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women’s team captain Smriti Mandhana has led her team to a victory against the Delhi Capitals Women. This is their fourth win in a row in the Women’s Premier League 2026.
RCB-W took on the Capitals in Match 11 of WPL 2026. The game was played at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and saw the Royal Challengers win the toss, deciding to bowl first.
Smriti Mandhana Leads RCB-W TO Win Over DC-W
Delhi got off to a poor start to their inning. On the third ball of the first over of the match, opener and wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee was bowled by Lauren Bell for four off two. Later in that over, South African batting star Laura Wolvaardt was bowled for a duck.
In the second over, bowled by Sayali Satghare, skipper Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for four off three before Marizanne Kapp got out for a golden duck on the very next delivery. At the end of the second over, DC-W was struggling at 10/4.
The Capitals were in desperate need of a rescue, which would come in the form of the batter that stood at the other end of the crease while the batting order collapsed, Shafali Verma.
She, along with Niki Prasad, took the team out of the powerplay overs. With a massive sixth over, in which 18 runs were scored, the total at the end of the powerplay was 60/4.
This partnership ended in the eighth over, with Prema Rawat trapping Prasad before the wickets, dismissing her for 12 off 14.
While Verma was dominating bowlers on one end, the rest of the team failed to build a decent partnership with her. In the ninth over, Minnue Mani was dismissed by Nadine de Klerk for five off four.
Sneh Rana stayed on the crease for a while, till the 14th over. And while the all-rounder did score 22 runs, she did so with a strike rate of 100 before being bowled by Prema Rawat.
Lucy Hamilton came in at No. 9 and immediately picked up the scoring rate. Shafali Verma, after single-handedly rescuing the Delhi Capitals’ inning, was dismissed in the 17th over by Lauren Bell for 62 off 41.
Before getting out in the final over, Hamilton made 36 off 19. Her death over contribution took DC-W to 166/10 at the end of their allotted 20 overs.
The Capitals punched first in the chase, dismissing Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women opener Grace Harris for one off four in the third over. The Aussie was dismissed by Marizanne Kapp.
However, from this point on, the match started slipping away from Delhi’s hands. As for the next 15 overs, the second wicket partnership was between Georgia Voll and captain Smriti Mandhana.
Voll, on her part, played a fantastic unbeaten knock of 54 off 42. However, her half-century was only a sidekick’s role compared to Mandhana, who made 96 off 61.
Smriti, in the 18th over, was dismissed for 96, four runs shy of scoring the first WPL century. This was also the highest score by an Indian in this league, surpassing Harmanpreet Kaur’s 95* scored in 2024.
In the end, RCB-W won the match fairly comfortably, by eight wickets and 10 balls remaining. For her excellent captain’s knock, Smriti Mandhana was named the Player of the Match.
With this win, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women have won all four of their matches in WPL 2026 so far. They are on top of the league table with four wins in as many games, eight points, and the best net run rate in the competition.
On the other hand, the Delhi Capitals sit at the bottom of the table with one win, three losses, two points, and the worst net run rate in the league.
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