WPL 2026, Match 12: Naik, Satghare demolish Giants as RCB storm into playoffs

The Vadodara leg of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 began with the clash between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Giants (GG) at the Kotambi Stadium on Monday, January 19. GG won the toss and elected to bowl first. The team made two changes - Anushka Sharma and debutant Happy Kumari replaced Shivani Singh and Rajeshwari Gayakwad while RCB went in with the same XI.

The Women in Red did not have the best of starts as they suffered early blows in the form of Grace Harris (1 off 3) and last match's half centurion Georgia Voll (1 off 3) in the first two overs. Gautami Naik joined her skipper Smriti Mandhana as the duo needed to recover from the early jolts.

The left-right pair received a boost in the fourth over which yielded 14 runs, but despite that, they ended the powerplay on just 37/2. However, the next two overs shifted the momentum back as RCB scored 22 runs from them. Naik was scoring runs more freely than Mandhana and the partnership crossed the 50-run mark in the eighth over.

But, soon after GG captain Ashleigh Gardner trapped Mandhana (26 off 23) in front to rebalance the game. At 73/3 after the 10th over, RCB needed a big push in the last 10.

Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh joined Naik and the pair looked positive right from the start. Naik was stroking the ball well while Ghosh tried to play her usual attacking game. The partnership flourished and so did the run rate. Naik, who was playing only her fourth WPL game, scored her maiden half century in the 14th over.

The duo looked set for a big finish, but a high full toss proved to be Ghosh's (27 off 20) undoing in the 17th over. Naik (73 off 55) followed her long-time partner back to the pavilion soon as RCB had two new batters at the crease. Radha Yadav (17 off 8) and Shreyanka Patil (8* off 2) provided the much-needed late flourish as the batting team finished at 178/6 in their 20 overs. For GG, Renuka Singh was the best bowler with figures of 2/23.

GG had a disastrous start to their run chase. Right-arm fast bowler Sayali Satghare rocked them early, sending back wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney (3 off 4) and Sophie Devine (0 off 4) in the second over. Lauren Bell returned for the third over and the 25-year-old cleaned up left-hander Kanika Ahuja for a three-ball duck. GG were in big trouble at 5/3 after the third over.

Gardner came to the crease to join Anushka Sharma and the duo took the team past the powerplay without any further damage. The required run rate started to escalate sharply and the situation got worse for the Giants as Anushka fell for 18(20) off Nadine de Klerk. The scoreboard read 34/4 after seven overs at this stage and the game appeared to have gone from GG's grasp.

If not at that stage, the victory did look beyond the Giants when they were six down for 56 in the 13th over. Kashvee Gautam (4 off 8) and Georgia Wareham (2 off 6) failed as Bharati Fulmali now joined Gardner. The duo formed a 41-run partnership during which Gardner reached her second fifty of the season but soon became Satghare's third victim, getting out caught for 54(43).

GG's fate was sealed long before the match ended as Fulmali (14 off 15) and Tanuja Kanwar (11* off 11) tried to minimise the margin of loss. In the end, GG finished at 117/8, losing the match by a huge 61-run margin. For RCB, Satghare was the best bowler with figures of 3/21.

With this win, the Women in Red have qualified for the playoffs and boast five out of five wins.