It was the first match of WPL 2026 as the Mumbai Indians were playing the Royal Challengers Bangalore as the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai was the venue for the match. One thing is for sure: the tournament’s first match was a match to remember, as De Klerk’s heroics gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a last-ball win against the Mumbai Indians.
Harmanpreet Kaur was captaining the defending champions, the Mumbai Indians, while Smriti Mandhana was captaining the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Smriti Mandhana won the toss and put the Mumbai Indians to bat first. Grace Harris, Nadine de Klerk, Linsey Smith, and Lauren Bell were the overseas players for RCB, while Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Nicola Carey, and Shabnim Ismail were the ones for the Indians.
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WPL 2026: De Klerk’s heroics gives Royal Challengers Bangalore a last ball win against Mumbai Indians
Amelia Kerr and Nat Sciver-Brunt both were dismissed quickly as they failed to impress. G Kamalini started well but couldn’t convert into a big one. Sajeevan Sajana and Nicola Carey’s partnership of 82 runs in 49 balls helped Mumbai reach a total of 154/6 in 20 overs. Nadine de Klerk impressed with the ball as they have a bowling figures of 4/26 in her four overs. Shreyanka Patil and Lauren Bell got a wicket each.
Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana, both openers, added 40 runs for the first wicket, and then both players got out in quick time. The Royal Challengers Bangalore were in trouble as they lost three wickets for one run, and they were on 65/5. Nadine de Klerk came in and won the match for RCB as she scored 63* in just 44 balls. 18 runs were needed in the last four balls, and she did it. Arundhati Reddy played a supported innings as RCB won the match on the last ball.
Nadine de Klerk was the Player of the match as she had an all-round performance in the match, scoring 63 runs and also picking up four wickets. RCB defeated the defending champions in the first match. Mumbai next plays Delhi at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on 11th January, while Bengaluru plays the UP Warriorz at the same venue on 12th January.