Mumbai Indians Women vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women, 1st Match, Womens Premier League 2026 - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

From an entertainment point of view, you couldn’t have asked for a better start to WPL 2026. The contest ebbed and flowed all night, with both sides taking control at different stages, only for the other to fight back. In the end, it was Nadine de Klerk who had the final say. The South African produced a breathtaking knock to snatch victory from MI’s grasp. That wraps up the opening game, but we’ll be back tomorrow with a double-header. Join us for all the action. Until then, goodbye and stay safe..

Nadine de Klerk | Player of the Match: Look, it’s probably going to take a couple of days (to sink in). I guess with cricket sometimes if it’s your day, you just have to make sure that you cash in. Obviously lucky with a few chances going my way, just glad we got over the line. It’s always great to start with a win. I think it’s just about coming in and really backing your skills and trying to execute. I think obviously we started really well with Bell and the other bowlers in the powerplay. I think she bowled exceptional. So it was probably just for us to come in and try and back that up. Like I said, it’s just kind of sticking to my strengths. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. I think I was probably a little frustrated, to be honest, at the beginning of my innings. I really struggled to get it away. But I just say, with every batter that I bat with, cricket is a funny game. You just have to stay in the fight. I guess it’s just a massive mentality thing; never give up. T20 cricket especially, we know on these grounds it’s very good batting wickets, not the biggest boundaries, so you know you can cash in. It was just about giving myself a chance out there, and luckily it came off today. I think probably towards the back end I was thinking about taking the bulk of the strike. But I think there were a few very important partnerships earlier. I think Arundhati (Reddy) batted beautifully, and then Prema came in and hit a few nice boundaries to take a little bit of pressure off me, which made my life a little easier. So I guess in that last over I was probably going to try and keep it on myself and try and win us that game.

Smriti Mandhana: Yeah, I think for the first match of the WPL, it was a thriller. And RCB are known to play thrillers. Last year, we were on the receiving end of these matches, so happy that we pulled it off. Brilliant from Nadine to finish the match like that. Everyone was pretty positive. We were having a laugh. Even when things were not going well, everyone was pretty positive. I think everything we can say now because we won - it’s easier. But yeah, otherwise as well, the preparations have been really nice. Everyone’s looking really, really good. Nadine (de Klerk) did all the work for us in the bowling and the batting department. (what is it between Nadine de Klerk and India?) Yeah, we saw that in Visakhapatnam when she played that innings against us. And I was just telling our head coach, Malolan, that I think we were in a similar situation against South Africa in the World Cup match, and she pulled it off. And I think when she got dropped, we just said that when we dropped, Sajana got runs - let’s hope she gets two sixes. And she actually got them. So sometimes what you say happens, which is fine. But really happy that we got the two points.

Grace Harris: Noodle’s (de Klerk) actually been working really hard at that finishing role recently, and I’m so glad to see her do really well tonight. Hopefully she can carry this momentum throughout the tournament as well. She’s a class player, been around for a little while, but she’s seriously improved over the last 18 months. I love working with her, she’s great. I must admit, I turned to Anya, our assistant coach, and said, “Gee, this is a good first game of the season, isn’t it?” It got really close. I thought we might be a little too far out of it, and then one or two shots later, Noodle hit that six over cover, and I thought, “Oh, we’re in with a shot here.” The heart rate was calm all day, and I reckon it spiked a little over the last five overs of the match. I don’t think you could say the shots we played throughout our innings were very intelligent or the right shots to play. So maybe not luck, maybe more a rethink of how we’re going to go about our cricket on a sliding surface. But I’m just so happy she finished the way she did. Like I said, she’s been working really hard at this finishing role. Knowing she was coming in the middle, when I first came over to India, I actually thought I’d be playing something similar myself. So it was great to see her go well and do it. It was a bit of a surprise that I ended up at the top, to be honest, but it’s been good fun recently. The group’s going well, it’s been great getting over here and getting together.

Harmanpreet Kaur: Well, we know that she (de Klerk) has the capacity to score whatever runs are needed in the last over. But yeah, I think we just didn’t bowl one good ball, which was needed in the last over. Sometimes this happens. We gave her two or three chances and when you keep giving a batter chances, they always come back with an even stronger mindset. So yeah, we can’t say the last over didn’t go our way - we got a few chances, but we missed them. (what they could have done differently?) I think one good ball in the last over - that’s all. Otherwise, I think we were in the game. We did everything that was needed to win this match, but except for that last over. If we could have bowled one good ball, we could have won the match. Well, in the WPL, we always get matches like this. And we know that if we keep thinking about this game, it’s not going to help us tomorrow. So I think we just need to learn from this match and think about how we can do better in the next one. Yeah, in the first innings, I think we didn’t get a good start in the powerplay. Hopefully, in the next match, we’ll sit together and discuss how we want to go about it. Initially, it wasn’t that easy to bat on this pitch. Later on, it kept getting better and better. Now we know the pitch, we know how the conditions are going to be and hopefully in the next match we’ll execute better.

Highest target achieved in 20th over of a chase in WT20s
23 Melbourne Stars vs Melbourne Renegades St Kilda 2022
19 UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants Navi Mumbai 2023
18 Auckland vs Canterbury Christchurch 2024
18 RCB vs MI Navi Mumbai 2026
* where BBB data available

Highest scores batting #6 or lower in WPL
63*(44) Nadine de Klerk RCB vs MI Navi Mumbai 2026
62(23) Chinelle Henry UPW vs DC Bengaluru 2025
61(27) Bharti Fulmali GG vs MI Brabourne 2025
59*(26) Grace Harris UPW vs GG Navi Mumbai 2025

Last ball wins by the chasing side in WPL
MI vs DC Bengaluru 2024 (Tar: 172)
DC vs MI Vadodara 2025 (Tar: 165)
RCB vs MI Navi Mumbai 2026 (Tar: 155)

The target of 18 runs achieved by RCB is the second most in the final over of a WPL game, only behind 19 by UPW vs GG in Navi Mumbai in 2023.

RCB needed 90 runs to win at the fall of their fifth wicket; no team has successfully chased as many for the last five wickets in a WPL game.
Previous most: 82 by UPW vs GG in Navi Mumbai in 2023

50+ runs & four+ wickets in a WPL match
Deepti Sharma 59 & 4/19 UPW vs DC Delhi 2024
Nadine de Klerk 63* & 4/26 RCB vs MI Navi Mumbai 2026

23:11 Local Time, 17:41 GMT: Phew! RCB were down and out at 65/5. They were down and out when Arundhati fell straight after the 16th over time-out. They were down and out when the equation became 29 off 12. They were down and out again when 18 was needed from the final over. But one thing we’ve learnt lately - when Nadine de Klerk is at the crease, no equation is impossible. Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana gave RCB a flying start, but once that opening stand was broken, the innings lost its way. With half the side back in the pavilion, MI were firmly on top. De Klerk and Arundhati then rebuilt with a crucial 50-run partnership, but Arundhati’s dismissal in the 17th over left it all on de Klerk’s shoulders. Prema Rawat chipped in with a couple of handy boundaries, but the chase was all about de Klerk. Calm, calculated and brutally powerful, she carried RCB over the line. MI will rue the dropped chances off her in the 19th over - opportunities that could have sealed the game, but slipped through the hands of experienced campaigners like Sciver-Brunt and Kerr under pressure. Stay tuned for the presentations..

There's conference between MI's senior players. Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt having a word. The skipper even wiping the wet ball. Meanwhile, de Klerk waits at the other end