Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women vs Mumbai Indians Women, 16th Match, Women's Premier League 2026 - Commentary

That’s all from this game. We’ll be back tomorrow as Delhi Capitals take on Gujarat Giants. Until then, goodbye and stay safe..

Nat Sciver-Brunt | Player of the Match: Yeah, it’s obviously a special moment to reach that milestone, but more importantly, it was about getting runs on the board for the team. These last two games are pretty much knockout games for us, so to be able to perform like that - and to build such a strong partnership with Hayley Matthews - was massive for the team. I’m just really happy with how it turned out. (about her consistency) I guess it’s about preparing in the same way and mentally trying to turn up in the same place each time. Staying present in the match is key - not thinking about the balls that have already gone or the ones that are coming up, just focusing on the one you’re about to face. (on having 2-3 shots for one ball) Today I was just reacting to the balls that were bowled and playing according to the field. Sticking to my strengths, backing the shots I like to play, and manoeuvring the field when possible - that was the plan. (does she plan specifically against a bowler) A little bit, yeah. Some bowlers suit your strengths more than others, and sometimes a bowler might just be on fire that day. So it’s about assessing where you can score. We also used the powerplay to read the wicket - we didn’t go too hard early, realised it was playing nicely, and then Hayley and I decided to put the foot down.

Harmanpreet Kaur: Yeah, it was a really good game overall. Everyone contributed. Nat was outstanding, Matthews played beautifully, and it was good to see her get some runs - we were waiting for that to happen. It was a complete team effort. This is our fourth year playing together, so we know each other very well. That’s something special about MI - whenever the team is challenged, someone always steps up. Today was one of those days where everyone wanted to give their best for the team, and it showed. That small break we had really helped us. We sat together, had good bonding sessions, and spoke about how to approach these last two games. We knew how important they were and wanted to play with a fresh mindset. You could see that confidence reflect in today’s performance. She’s (Sciver-Brunt) been amazing for us. Whenever the team needs her, she’s always there, taking responsibility. We love watching her bat and love playing alongside her. It was great to see her get those runs. She’s (Ismail) been waiting for this. She always takes crucial wickets for us, and it’s good to see her rhythm coming back. Hopefully, this continues.

Hayley Matthews: We obviously did really well to get to that 200 score. Kudos to Nat, obviously, the way she batted. But I think it was really good for us to keep wickets in hand until later on and then be able to accelerate, which we executed perfectly. With the bowling, I think we started really well. Shabnim's been great at the top, as always and throughout the middle. Obviously it got away a little bit at the end, but with someone like Richa at the crease, you always know you’re up against someone dangerous towards the end. I’ve felt pretty good at the crease in the first few matches I’ve played, but I wasn’t able to get the scores that I wanted. So I was just really happy to get some numbers on the board today. I think here specifically, the wicket does tend to change a bit as the innings goes on. The first six to ten overs are usually a bit hard. But with our short side, we figured that once we got to around 70 or 80 in the first ten, we could really push hard in the second ten and get 100-plus. It was about reading the bowlers and our options really well and targeting that short side. We were also able to find boundaries from both ends. I was aware of the other hundred, but it’s been pretty good batting with Nat. I feel like we have a really good relationship at the crease. She flows pretty easily, which makes it easier for me as well. Once we both got set, we just spoke about which bowlers we wanted to target and went at it. That was a very nice catch (Rahila's catch to dismiss Voll). She’s come in after Kamalini has gone and has really stepped up from the first match to the last. She’s taken one or two behind the stumps, and today was another great example of how good she is as a keeper. But also, when you hear her talking in the dressing room, she seems like a real leader, someone who knows what she’s doing. It’s great to have her in the squad, and she looks confident and ready out there. Coming up against Grace and Smriti is never really much of a worry anyway. I was pretty happy when Grace got out early and then I could come in and focus on the later stages a bit more.

Smriti Mandhana: Absolutely brilliant innings from Richa Ghosh. I mean, it was just a treat to watch. Nadine as well, a good contribution. But yeah, I think, of course, these sort of innings, when you lose, wouldn’t go noticed. But I think it’s one of the best innings I’ve seen. Nat is definitely a world-class player. She can hit one ball at three different places, which again makes life very difficult. Credit to her. The shots she played were amazing. I mean, there were not many answers which we could find out there in the middle. She almost scored the bulk of the runs. Plus, the way she accelerated after 25-30 is something which every youngster should watch and learn. Bowling has been brilliant throughout the first five games for sure. But today was one of those days where a few of our bowlers didn’t get the lines right. In T20 cricket, when someone is set, you try a few things and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Lauren Bell was brilliant with the new ball and even when she came back on. But others couldn’t step up today. Nadine also bowled those two difficult overs from the shorter end, so credit to her as well. We’ll think about our strategies and come back. Every time we do speak about not being complacent about qualifying. We have to win one to go straight to the finals. Having said that, there are a few things we definitely need to work on. WPL, because it’s five teams, always becomes complicated towards the end of the season. But for us, keeping things simple worked in the first five games, and we have to continue doing that. In T20 cricket, you’re going to have extremely good days and bad days. We have to take both in our stride and see what we can do better.

Highest scores from No.6 or lower in WPL
90 - Richa Ghosh (RCB-W) vs MI-W, Vadodara, 2026
63* - Nadine de Klerk (RCB-W) vs MI-W, Mumbai DYP, 2026
62 - Chinelle Henry (UP-W) vs DC-W, Bengaluru, 2025
61 - Bharti Fulmali (GG-W) vs MI-W, Brabourne, 2025
59* - Grace Harris (UPW-W) vs GG-W, Mumbai DYP, 2023

- Richa Ghosh’s 90 is the second-highest score for a designated wicketkeeper in the WPL, behind 96* each for Alyssa Healy (UPW-W vs RCB-W, Brabourne, 2023) and Beth Mooney (GG-W vs UPW-W, Lucknow, 2025).

50-plus stand for 9th or 10th wicket in WPL
55 - Richa Ghosh & Shreyanka Patil (RCB-W) vs MI-W, Vadodara, 2026
52* - Shikha Pandey & Radha Yadav (DC-W) vs MI-W, Brabourne, 2023 Final

- The partnership run-rate of 18.33 (55 off 17) between Richa and Shreyanka is the highest among the 147 50-plus stands in WPL history, bettering 16.8 (70* off 25) between Sophie Ecclestone and Grace Harris (UPW-W vs GG-W) at Mumbai DYP in 2023.

- RCB-W is the first team to go past 150 despite losing their first five wickets for under 50 in a WPL innings.

50-plus score and 3 wickets in a WPL game
Hayley Matthews (thrice)
Deepti Sharma, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Nadine de Klerk (once each)

- RCB-W will be through to the finals if they win their last league game against UPW-W. The only way they can lose out on the top spot is if they stay at 10 points and the winner of tomorrow’s game (DC-W vs GG-W) gets to 10 as well, and surpass them on NRR.

23:04 Local Time, 17:34 GMT: Apart from those last two overs, it was a commanding performance from Mumbai Indians. In a must-win encounter, their senior players stood tall and delivered when it mattered most. Nat Sciver-Brunt led the charge with the first ever WPL hundred, before Hayley Matthews and Shabnim Ismail ripped through the RCB top order, claiming the first five wickets to set up a 15-run victory. RCB were already on the back foot after a punishing bowling effort, and the chase unravelled rapidly in the powerplay as they lost half their side. There was a fightback through Richa Ghosh, Nadine de Klerk and Arundhati Reddy, with Richa battling till the end and scoring 35 runs in the last two overs, but the task proved far too steep. After winning their first five games, RCB have now suffered back-to-back losses and will need to regroup quickly to ensure their final league match doesn’t make it three defeats on the bounce. For Mumbai Indians, this was the perfect response - a big score on the board, wickets up front, and some outstanding fielding. Just the final two overs got away from them. But still it’s a confidence-boosting win that keeps their campaign alive and gives them vital momentum heading into their final league fixture. Hang around for the presentations..

Amelia Kerr to Richa Ghosh, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

32 from the last over. Kerr to bowl the final over..

Back over the wicket