RCB are known to play thrillers – Smriti Mandhana on a nerve-wrecking win against MI

All hearts stopped for a moment when Nadine de Klerk took on Nat Sciver-Brunt in the final over of the WPL 2026 season opener with 18 needed off the last four balls at the DY Patil Stadium. By hitting two sixes and two fours, de Klerk pulled off a sensational coup for RCB, taking the team across the finish line in sensational fashion.

Talking at the post-match presentation, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana opened up on how good it feels to secure a thriller. Last year, RCB came close on multiple occasions, only to be denied glory in the last minutes of the game. Mandhana opened up that it actually felt good to be at the other side of the thriller where the two points were logged successfully.

Highlighting the reactions in the dressing room and Nadine’s match-winning innings, Mandhana said, “Yeah, I think for the first match of the WPL, it was a thriller. And RCB are known to play thrillers. Last year, we were on the receiving end of these matches, so happy that we pulled it off. Brilliant from Nadine to finish the match like that. Everyone was pretty positive. We were having a laugh. Even when things were not going well, everyone was pretty positive.”

Shedding light on the collective brilliance of RCB, Smriti added, “I think everything we can say now because we won - it’s easier. But yeah, otherwise as well, the preparations have been really nice. Everyone’s looking really, really good. So yeah, again, everyone did all the work for us in the bowling and the batting department.”

Mandhana concluded with a word about the India connection for Nadine de Klerk, stating, “Yeah, we saw that in Visakhapatnam when she played that innings against us. And I was just telling our head coach, Malolan, that I think we were in a similar situation against South Africa in the World Cup match, and she pulled it off. And I think when she got dropped, we just said that when we dropped, Sajana got runs - let’s hope she gets two sixes. And she actually got them. So sometimes what you say happens, which is fine. But really happy that we got the two points.”