The girls played fantastic and it was a great match – Grace Harris

Things got a little dicey towards the end in the WPL 2026 final, but despite the odds, RCB hammered forth across the finish line. Smriti Mandhana looked well settled for 87 and the momentum was with the Royal Challengers. Then the unthinkable happened as Chinelle Henry powered through her defences to get her dismissed at the fag-end of the innings.

Talking in the post-match presentation, Smriti’s opening partner, Grace Harris opened up on how the mood turned in the dugout when the RCB captain fell. She also reserved the highest of praises for the support and the environment that they created.

Shedding light on the finish, Harris said, “When there was 13 runs to get, I may have jinxed Smriti a little bit where I was, she was on 87 and I turned to the bench, a couple of people on the bench, I was like, listen, in the last 13 runs, I know who should take them tonight, but ... I think two fantastic knocks. Like 200 on the board. Sometimes you can kind of go boom or bust and obviously with the outfield and the wicket the way it was, you got good value for your shots if you played straight up, unlike myself. But the girls, they played fantastic and it was a great match.”

Heaping special praise for Malolan Rangarajan, RCB’s head coach and RX Muralidhar, RCB’s assistant coach, Harris said, “Yeah, Malo bhai (Malolan Rangarajan) our head coach, he's so calm and in control and he just allows the players to kind of get what they need, especially the senior ones. And then with RX (Muralidhar), our batting coach, he's very good technically and he's discussed a lot of batting stuff with me over the tournament.”

She concluded by stating, “And, our support staff, they just kind of know their roles as well and they play them. And then it allows you as a player just to roll in and understand your role and then try and give it your best shot throughout the tournament. And I think with the kind of environment that they've created, it can really help you show off your skills and express yourself.”