Smriti Mandhana headlines charge as RCB make it four wins in a row in WPL 2026

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued with their dream run as they took down Delhi Capitals in their latest outing, making it four out of four wins in WPL 2026. RCB completed the Navi Mumbai leg with another fiery all-round display that saw Delhi Capitals being pushed onto the backfoot from the word 'go' and they never really recovered.

Winning the toss, RCB opted to bowl first. They went with three changes from the last game that faced Gujarat Giants. Georgia Voll, Prema Rawat and Sayali Satghare came into the squad in place of Linsey Smith, Dayalan Hemalatha and Arundhati Reddy. The very first over saw Lauren Bell inflicting some serious damage on the Capitals after dealing a hefty double whammy.

After being smashed for a four on the very second ball, she came back strongly and had Lizelle Lee (4) bowled round her legs while following it up with the prized scalp of Laura Wolvaardt (0). To add to DC's woes, Sayali Satghare dealt a brace at the other end, removing Jemimah Rodrigues (4) and Marizanne Kapp (0) in no time at all. With such a heavily bedecked top-order disintegrated in no time, RCB took control of the game.

Stuttering at 10/4, DC was in some serious trouble and Shafali Verma was the only one who looked in control. Verma (62) led the charge for the Delhi Capitals, while she had support from Niki Prasad (12) and Sneh Rana (22) to a certain extent. Verma knitted together a solid stand of 59 runs with Prasad, steadying the ship while another 34-run-partnership with Sneh Rana saw Delhi crossing into three digits.

Prema Rawat got RCB the much-needed breakthrough when Verma and Prasad were going strong, removing the latter. Nadine de Klerk chimed in with the wicket of Minnu Mani (5) as RCB successfully applied the brakes again to DC's scoring rate. It was the return of Lauren Bell that saw RCB taking out the main source of DC's defiance as Verma fell.

A late charge from Lucy Hamilton (36) propelled Delhi to a fighting stance with 166 on the board before being bowled out. Bell and Sayali were the chief wreckers of Delhi with the duo plundering six wickets between them.

It was time for RCB to put their chase-faces on and so they did. Despite an early hiccup in the form of Grace Harris' (1), RCB soon found their foothold as their skipper, Smriti Mandhana orchestrated the charge. An incoming Georgia Voll slotted perfectly alongside Mandhana and the two started with the overhaul.

What was an overhaul in the wee overs after Harris' fall, soon turned into an unbridled onslaught. Mandhana turned into the ruthless run-machine while Voll was happy to complement her at the other end.

Mandhana brought up her first half-century of WPL 2026 with a dab past the keeper against Sree Charani in the ninth over. She racked up her first half-century of 2026 in just 31 balls as RCB cruised on. The partnership between Voll and Mandhana added 142 runs from just 91 balls. Just when it felt like that Smriti will be the first centurion in the WPL history, a flying blinder from Lucy Hamilton off Nandani Sharma's bowling sparked a deafening silence across Navi Mumbai.

Mandhana (96) fell just four runs short of what would have been a magical and indelible feat in the Women's Premier League. However, by then, RCB were firmly in control and was within touching distance of the finish line. Voll got her first fifty in RCB colours while this was her third half-century in WPL from the fourth game that she played.

It was eventually Voll who dealt the killing blow as RCB racked up their fourth win of the season. Smriti Mandhana was undoubtedly the Player of the Match for her scintillating knock, bolstering RCB's hold on the pole position.