🏏WPL 2026: Match 18: RCB W vs UP W at Vadodara on 29/01/26🏏 - Page 7

Congratulations to Smriti Mandhana for the half century.

And Grace Harris too.

Both laid the foundation to take RCB directly to finals.

Congratulations to RCB for their emphatic win against UPW.

RCB are into Final.

Deepti Sharma to Smriti, FOUR, RCB storm into the final. Skipper Smriti seals it in style. Flighted outside off, she's made to reach for the slog sweep and does well to middle it, clears mid-wicket with ease and there's no one on the rope. The players exchange handshakes and it is a happy RCB dugout..

Congratulations to RCB for winning the match and storming into finals.

Nadine might get the Player of the match award.

Cheers..

Easy win for rcbw like i thought

RCB Women won by 8 wickets (with 41 balls remaining)

It was almost a carbon copy of the previous meeting between these two sides. Chasing 144, RCB got the job done with ease once again - this time in 13.1 overs, having chased it down in 12.1 overs earlier in the season. Grace Harris set the tone just as she did before. After smashing 85 in that game, she followed it up with a fluent 75 today, launching a fierce assault on Kranti Gaud, whom she dispatched for seven fours across her first two overs. Smriti played the supporting role early on as Harris raced to her half-century, before the pair added 108 for the opening wicket to put RCB firmly in control. Once Harris departed, Smriti shifted gears, bringing up her second fifty of the season and finishing things off in style by scoring the winning runs. In the earlier meeting, it was Smriti’s unbeaten 47; today, she improved on that with a commanding 54 not out. UP Warriorz were well short of a par total, and their powerplay bowling left a lot to be desired. Their campaign now hangs by a thread, while RCB, with another dominant performance, have officially booked their place in the final.

Meg Lanning, UPW-W captain: Yeah, obviously really disappointing. We got ourselves onto a reasonable platform with the bat but just couldn’t carry on. It’s probably been a bit of a theme throughout the tournament - we get some momentum and then lose wickets at crucial times, often in clumps. That’s not ideal in T20 cricket. And then with the ball, we never really got going. Grace was outstanding again; she put away anything we missed and finished it off beautifully. So credit to her and to RCB - unfortunately, we just didn’t put our best foot forward tonight. As I mentioned, every time we’ve had some momentum with the bat, we’ve given our wickets away and made it a little bit too easy for the opposition. They’ve capitalised really well. In T20 cricket, when batters get in and get going, you need to maximise that. We’ve probably underdone that - myself included. I got to 40, which is a good start, but you need to keep going. That’s been a theme across the whole tournament and it’s something we need to improve. Yeah, they both (Harris and Smriti) batted extremely well. They played the conditions nicely and punished us whenever we were slightly off. As I said, they were just too good tonight. We couldn’t find an answer, no matter how hard we tried, and sometimes that’s the way it goes. (was the break too long) I don’t really think so. It is what it is. We had time to recover and train before coming into this game, so there are no excuses. I don’t think it played a major role. RCB outplayed us tonight, and we just weren’t good enough.

Smriti Mandhana, RCB-W captain: It was brilliant. They started really well with the bat - almost 60-70 without loss - and from there the bowlers made a strong comeback. A special mention to Grace, coming in to bowl for the first time in the tournament and picking up two crucial wickets. Nadine bowled really well again, and honestly, everyone just chipped in and bowled extremely well. When the team bowls like that, it’s a very pleasing sight to watch. Over the last two games, we’ve just told ourselves not to think emotionally or dig a hole for ourselves. We’ve played really good cricket in the first five matches. In tournaments like this, sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition as well - like Nat (Sciver-Brunt) playing a blinder in the previous game. So we reviewed things practically, focused on what we could do better, and worked on that. Honestly, the message was exactly the same as the last few matches - we kept saying we’re just one win away from the final, and nothing changed. The support staff have been very consistent in their messaging, whether we win or lose, and that consistency really helps us as players. For the last three matches, it was always about being one win away, and I’m just happy that today we could get that win and go straight into the final. (they can relax before the final next week) Yeah, for sure. The first three or four days, everyone can do what they feel like doing - switch off a bit. Then we’ll come back, train really hard for the final, and be ready. Definitely looking forward to the break.

Grace Harris in this WPL season

vs UPW: 160 (77), SR: 207.8

vs other teams: 68 (49), SR: 138.98

Most 50-plus scores for RCB

8 - Ellyse Perry

6 - Smriti Mandhana

5 - Richa Ghosh

Most league stage wins in a WPL season

6 - DC in 2023

6 - MI in 2023

6 - DC in 2024

6 - RCB in 2026

Winning with most balls to spare for RCB

47 vs UPW, DY Patil, 2026 (by 9 wkts)

45 vs GG, Bengaluru, 2024 (by 8 wkts)

41 vs UPW, Vadodara, 2026 (by 8 wkts)*

Lauren Bell: Yeah, definitely. I think we started the tournament really strongly, so we’re obviously really happy to get the win tonight, go straight through to the final, and earn a bit of downtime now. That break will be important before next Thursday. Yeah, I feel like I’ve found a nice rhythm and things are coming out well. The main thing for me is being really clear on my role and understanding exactly what Smriti wants me to do. I’m just really happy I’ve been able to contribute to the team and put in performances that have helped us get over the line. Yeah, we weren’t sure who was going to open (for UP Warriorz), so we prepared for a few different options. With the left-hander, it’s pretty similar to how I approach any lefty. My first option is to attack the pads and bring the slips into play. I was really clear on my plan. She (Deepti) probably got the better of me a couple of times tonight, but I stuck to what I wanted to do. (the pitch) Yeah, it was definitely better than the first game. I think the second and third games here have played a lot better. There was a bit of bounce for me, apart from the odd one that stopped. Pace off seemed to work nicely towards the end. Overall, it was a good pitch, and I think we could’ve put on a really good total if we’d batted the full 20 overs. (on being swapped with Nadine in the field) No, I didn’t ask for it. I’d done a few squats there and I guess it was a hot spot they wanted to cover. Nadine’s a great fielder, so if there was going to be a chance, they wanted her there. I’m happy to help out wherever the team needs me.