WPL 2026 has so far been a tale of two halves. In the Navi Mumbai leg, out of 11 matches played, only three times did teams batting first set targets below 160. In the Vadodara leg, across four games, there has been only one target above 160. It has tested the best of batters, and today’s match was no different. RCB set DC a target of 110, which DC chased down with seven wickets and 26 balls to spare.
DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues won the toss and asked RCB to bat first. RCB got off to a streaky start, with both Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana struggling to find timing. The opening partnership was broken in the sixth over, Laura Wolvaardt taking a well-judged catch off Marizanne Kapp’s bowling to dismiss Harris, who laboured to 9 off 13 balls. There was then a brief partnership between Georgia Voll and Mandhana, worth 26 runs off 23 balls.
After the power play, Jemimah introduced spinners N Sree Charani and Minnu Mani, the latter coming in for the injured Deeya Yadav. The move paid off as Mandhana once again fell to an off-spinner, her slog-sweep finding deep square-leg. Her wicket fell on 9.2 overs with RCB on 62. Over the next 27 balls, DC’s bowlers completely disrupted the RCB innings, conceding just 16 runs while removing Voll, Gautami Naik and the dangerous Richa Ghosh.
It was left to Radha Yadav and Nadine de Klerk, both of whom have won a match apiece for RCB this season, to salvage the innings. However, on a sluggish surface and with the bowlers consistently taking pace off the ball, RCB’s batters could not find momentum. They were bowled out for 109 in 20 overs, with young Nandni Sharma picking up three wickets and taking over the Purple Cap.
In reply, Shafali Verma began with a flurry of boundaries, and for the first time in WPL 2026, Lauren Bell conceded 12 runs in her opening over. Sayali Satghare, who has consistently picked up wickets in her first over and has been rewarded with a place in India’s Test squad against Australia, produced a moment of magic to dismiss Shafali. Richa, excellent behind the stumps, whipped off the bails in a flash, continuing her impressive keeping form this season.
Soon after, Lizelle Lee was removed by Satghare following a soft and irresponsible dismissal. Jemimah and Laura Wolvaardt then put together a mature partnership of 54 runs off 49 balls. Jemimah once again fell before seeing the team home, but Kapp and Wolvaardt showed composure to guide DC over the line, handing RCB their first defeat of the season. Wolvaardt underlined her value with an unbeaten 42 off 38 balls. It was also the first match in which Bell finished wicketless, her figures reading 0 for 30 from four overs.
For RCB, there was little to take away from the performance. Poor batting was compounded by dropped catches, sloppy ground fielding and a few extremely loose deliveries. Despite the loss, they remain comfortably at the top of the table with 10 points from six games.
DC, meanwhile, achieved what no other side had managed so far, defeating RCB. After losing their third game, their campaign appeared to be slipping away, but back-to-back wins against MI and RCB have lifted them to second place with six points from six games and an improved net run rate of -0.169.
RCB next face MI on Republic Day, with an eye on sealing the top spot and a place in the final. MI look to stay alive in the tournament after three consecutive losses. DC next play GG on the 27th, a match that could all but decide the final playoff spot.
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