RCB Clinch Second WPL Crown as DC's Final Heartbreak Continues

RCB won their first title in the 2024 season.

RCB Skipper Smriti Mandhana played a match-winning knock of 87 runs and added 165 runs for the second wicket with Georgia Voll (79 runs off 54 balls), which helped the RCB chase down a daunting target of 204 runs. Mandhana's 87 is also the highest individual score in the WPL final at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi.

Chasing the highest total of the WPL, Mandhana's side scripted history, that too in the tournament's finale. Earlier, the record was also held by RCB, who chased down 202 runs against the Gujarat Giants last year.

This was the fourth straight final for the Capitals, and they finished as the runner-ups again.

While chasing the biggest target in the WPL, Grace Harris came to open the batting with Mandhana. Harris hit two boundaries in the first over but lost her wicket on the first delivery of the second over, when Chinelle Henry bowled her.

Richa Ghosh replaced her at the crease and made a quick six off as many balls before Nandani Sharma dismissed her.

Mandhana also lost her wicket in the 19th over when RCB was nearing the target. Radha Yadav came to bat.

With 10 runs needed in the final over, Shree Charani came to bowl for the Capitals. Yadav managed to find two boundaries on the third and fourth deliveries of the over to take her side to an unforgettable victory and hand the Capitals their fourth successive defeat in the final.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals (DC) displayed a strong batting performance as they posted 203/4 in 20 overs against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the high-voltage final of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026.

Asked to bat first, Jemimah Rodrigues-led Capitals also smashed the highest-ever team total in the final of WPL history.

Rodrigues top-scored with 57, followed by Laura Wolvaardt (44) and Chinelle Henry (35*).

The Capitals were off to a cautious start, scoring just 9/0 in three runs. However, Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma shifted gears as the Capitals reached 36/0 after five overs.

Speedster Arundhati Reddy got the much-needed breakthrough after she dismissed Verma during the fifth ball of the sixth over. Reddy dismissed the Delhi opener for 20 off 13 balls, with three fours. She also broke the 53-run stand for the opening wicket.

On the third delivery of the eighth over, Nadine de Klerk dismissed wicketkeeper-batter Lee for 37 off 30 balls, with three fours and three sixes, as Capitals reached 74/2.

After the end of 10 overs, Delhi scored 94/2, with captain Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt steadying the ship for their side.

Jemimah and Wolvaardt continued their domination over Bengaluru overs as Delhi made 113/2 after the end of 12 overs. The Delhi captain slammed her century in 32 deliveries during the fifth ball of the 15th over.

Jemimah also became the third player to hit 50-plus scores in the WPL finals after Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt. However, Sayali Satghare removed Jemimah during the 16th over. Rodrigues made 57 off 37 balls, with eight fours.

Towards the end, Chinelle Henry's blistering cameo of unbeaten 35 off 15 deliveries, with four boundaries and two sixes and Wolvaardt's fantastic 44 off 25 balls, with three fours and two sixes, helped Delhi post a mammoth target of 204 runs.

For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sayali Satghare, Arundhati Reddy, and Nadine de Klerk scalped one wicket apiece.

- ANI