RCB vs DC, WPL 2026: Delhi Capitals ends Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s winning streak

Delhi Capitals operated like a pack of wolves with the ball on Saturday.

The impact was palpable as the Jemimah Rodrigues-led outfit bowled out Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which had won its first five matches of the 2026 Women’s Premier League, for 109 to seal a seven-wicket victory at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.

Riding on Laura Wolvaardt’s unbeaten 42 in the run chase, Capitals sauntered home in 15.4 overs.

AS IT HAPPENED | RCB vs DC Highlights

DC’s splendid bowling performance was the result of a collective effort. Seamer Nandini Sharma ran through the RCB lower-order to finish with figures of 4-0-26-3. Chinelle Henry, Marizanne Kapp and Minnu Mani took two wickets each while N. Shree Charani chipped in with a scalp.

Henry and Kapp set the tone with testing opening spells. Kapp had the in-form Smriti Mandhana fretting with a vociferous leg-before appeal in the second over, but Capitals couldn’t review because the South African had overstepped.

Having ambled to five off 13 balls, Smriti finally broke the shackles with successive fours against Henry. The deliveries were on the fuller side, and allowed Smriti to unfurl her exquisite drives. When Nandini came into the attack instead of Henry in the fifth over, the southpaw repeated the dose.

However, it didn’t take much longer for Kapp to break the opening partnership. Grace Harris’ leading edge off an attempted flick was snaffled at backward point.

Having ambled to five off 13 balls, Smriti finally broke the shackles with successive fours against Henry.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

DC’s bowlers went on to string together a run of 21 deliveries without conceding a boundary. That was halted off the final ball of the eighth over, when Smriti danced down the track and smashed Sneh Rana for a maximum over long-on.

Smriti, though, wasn’t able to carry on. Once she slog-swept Minnu to Niki Prasad at deep square leg in the 10th over, RCB descended into a deeper hole. The last nine wickets fell for just 47 runs as none of the incoming batters were able to find a way out of trouble.

Nandini, who picked up a five-for earlier in her debut season, was brilliant at the death. The 24-year-old gave away 11 runs in her last two overs and added three wickets to her tally to reclaim the Purple Cap.

Published on Jan 24, 2026