WPL 2026 Final: Mandhana, Voll swat aside Delhi Capitals to give RCB second title

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) swatted aside Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 final at Vadodara's BCA Stadium in a high-scoring clash to clinch their second title in the tournament's history.

It was an out-and-out domineering show from RCB with the bat, as Smriti Mandhana and Georgia Voll recorded the highest-ever partnership in WPL history, and with that, the highest successful run chase ever in the tournament. RCB did have a brief jitter towards the end, losing three wickets in a space of 14 balls right after Mandhana and Voll’s extraordinary alliance, but when Radha Yadav struck consecutive fours with eight needed of the last four balls, DC’s 203 seemed like a thing of the distant past.

DC had gotten off to a sedate start after being inserted to bat, managing merely nine runs in the first three overs as Lauren Bell kept things tight before Lizelle Lee got into the groove with consecutive sixes off Sayali Satghare in an eventful 20-run fourth over.

Shafali Varma, who was reprieved in the same over, dispatched Arundhati Reddy for two fours after staying at the non-striker’s end for the majority of the powerplay. However, she fell for 20 off 13, edging Reddy behind in the final over of the powerplay.

Lee, meanwhile, extended her assault, smashing Shreyanka Patil 4, 4, 6 in a 19-run over. She played one shot too many, skying a catch to long-off as Nadine de Klerk got the breakthrough.

Jemimah Rodrigues then ensured that the momentum was not lost, cover driving Radha Yadav for a four before picking two more fours off de Klerk. She extended Shreyanka’s long night even further, finding gaps with elan to hit three fours off the spinner in the 12th over.

Laura Wolvaardt found her rhythm as well, scoring 44 off 25, but Rodrigues fell against the run of play right after bringing up her half-century, as Satghare had her hole out to deep backward square for a 37-ball 57.

From that point on, it was a Chinelle Henry show of power-hitting as she belted 4,4,4,4,6 against the struggling de Klerk in a potentially match-changing 24-run penultimate over to launch DC to 203 for 4. Henry stood unbeaten on 35 off 15.

Out to chase an unprecedented target, RCB were rocked early as Henry pegged down Grace Harris’ middle-stump after she found the boundary twice off Marizanne Kapp in the first over. DC had to wait 92 balls for another wicket from there, as Voll and Mandhana knocked the wind out of their bowlers.

Mandhana initially watched the carnage unfold from the non-striker’s end during the powerplay as Voll unfurled an array of dazzling strokes, picking four fours off Kapp across two overs and hitting two more off Henry in between. Mandhana finally got into the act in the final over of the powerplay, smacking Nandni Sharma for a four and six off consecutive deliveries.

Voll notched up her half-century in 36 balls, while Mandhana reached the mark even quicker (23 balls) as the duo found boundaries at will, especially between overs 11 to 15, which fetched them 53 runs with 10 fours, with all of Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Henry and Kapp taking a beating as DC’s wait for a wicket continued.

The partnership was finally broken when Voll picked out Shafali at long off against Minnu Mani, walking back with a brilliant 79 off 54. Richa Ghosh perished to Nandni in the next over, holing out to long-on before Henry cleaned up Mandhana for 87 in the next. The panic was evident when Radha skied the first ball she faced, but Mani grassed it.

With 10 needed off the final over, Radha made DC pay for the reprieve with successive boundaries to consign them to their fourth runners-up finish in the tournament.