How Mandhana bent the 204 chase to her will

The first scoring shot off Smriti Mandhana's bat was the assurance RCB desperately needed. Grace Harris had just been dismissed seven balls into a tall chase of 204 for the WPL 2026 crown, and the task suddenly looked enormous. The glorious off-drive their captain hit past the bowler was so impeccably timed it was hard to believe Mandhana was playing with a high fever. She was the key to a second title in three years. Yet, Mandhana wouldn't find strike for most of the PowerPlay.

Not that RCB were in strife. Georgia Voll scored more in her first 20 balls than in her last two innings combined, hitting seven boundaries. But Mandhana stranded off-strike felt counterintuitive. She was on 6 off 5 when faced with the last two deliveries of the PowerPlay and decided to maximise. An ugly hoick over the in-field was followed by a more authoritative slogsweep.

For the next 13 overs, Delhi Capitals watched helplessly as Mandhana walked the talk.

"There was a shift in her mindset in the previous game about how we want to play on this wicket, what the challenges were, and how she could help address that," head coach Malolan Rangarajan later revealed. At the innings break, Mandhana told the coach the 200+ total wasn't necessarily a reflection of the pitch. "It's not going to be a walk in the park. So, let's make sure we are there till 18-19 overs."

Mandhana's footwork, placement, and timing bore no inkling of a body not at 100 percent. An imperious backfoot punch off Sree Charani pierced a fiercely protected off-side field. By the first time-out after seven overs, RCB were almost at par with the asking rate. Mandhana was ticking off runs as if on autopilot, and DC switched to plan B.

Off-spin had traditionally been her bane, and Delhi brought on one from each end. They punted on Shafali Verma's 'golden arm' ahead of Minnu Mani, showing desperation. Verma offered extra width; Mandhana rocked back and glided it perfectly between short third and backward point.

Mandhana's movement in the crease was her biggest strength, inducing line and length mistakes from DC bowlers. A flat pull for six off Nandni Sharma brought up RCB's hundred at the halfway mark and saw Mandhana pass Ellyse Perry as the franchise's leading WPL run-getter. Marizanne Kapp, brought back to break the century stand, instead dished out two slot balls, and the southpaw lofted them cleanly over the bowler's head.

The second-wicket stand of 165 between Mandhana and Voll was the highest partnership for any wicket in WPL history.

Distressed DC kept making frequent changes, but Mandhana had answers. The shot of the night was a tie between shimmying down to loft Charani over long-off for six and a sublime inside-out drive over covers off Sneh Rana. The ease with which she alternated between punishing mistakes and caressing the ball showcased her versatility.

"She saved one of her best innings for the final," Rangarajan said of the 41-ball 87. "The way she batted today was inhuman. So classy, so elegant. You could see she was in control. It didn't look like a chase of 200."

By the time Delhi dislodged Mandhana in the 19th over, RCB's ask was down to a trickle. The RCB skipper struck at 210 against spin (42 off 20) in an unreal acceleration. In plundering 81 off 36 once she took charge, her dot-ball percentage against spin was a scarcely believable 4.7. Post PowerPlay, Mandhana hit every third ball for a boundary.

On a record-breaking night, moments before being crowned champions, RCB saw their captain bend the game to her will. Mandhana is now the first Indian to claim the Orange Cap, the fifth to 1000 WPL runs, and holds the record for most century stands, with three this season.

None of this surprised Rangarajan, who saw the grind away from the cameras. Since linking up with the team in January, the captain had been fine-tuning her batting and "cracked the code two days back."

"Smriti is very specific about her own batting—the feel, where she's tapping the bat, how she's lifting it. She's a nerd when it comes to her batting, and that's why she's achieved what she has. Her last training session was among her best."

Even a "massive flu" couldn't tie her down. Hours before the game, she assured her coach, "No problem. I'll be there."

When the night demanded WPL's highest-ever chase for the silverware, Mandhana indeed showed up.