Bell, Mandhana help RCB sweep Navi Mumbai leg

Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed a perfect four wins from four matches, sweeping the Navi Mumbai leg of WPL 2026 with an eight-wicket dismantling of Delhi Capitals.

Smriti Mandhana’s stroke-laden 61-ball 96, agonizingly short of the first century in WPL history, made short work of a 166-run target. After a modest PowerPlay of 37, Mandhana glided to a 31-ball half-century and never let the required rate squeeze RCB. She forged a 142-run partnership with Georgia Voll, who finished unbeaten on 54. RCB sauntered home with 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, a ruthless bowling performance, spearheaded by Lauren Bell, reduced Delhi Capitals to 10 for 4—the lowest score at the fall of the fourth wicket in WPL history. Bell struck twice in an over, removing Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt. Debutant Sayali Satghare then dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues and produced a superb delivery to clean up Marizanne Kapp.

From the wreckage, Shafali Verma launched a furious counter-attack, racing to a 27-ball 62 and becoming the first player in WPL history to hit 50 sixes in the competition. However, RCB struck back regularly, with Prema Rawat taking two wickets. Lucy Hamilton’s late cameo of 36 pushed DC to 166, but it proved insufficient.

Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 166 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 62, Lucy Hamilton 36; Lauren Bell 3-26, Prema Rawat 2-16) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 169/2 in 18.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 96, Georgia Voll 54*; Marizanne Kapp 1-21) by 8 wickets.