Smriti delighted with RCB’s habit of ‘playing thrillers’; Nadine etches name in WPL history

MUMBAI: Following her side’s win over the Mumbai Indians (MI) in a thrilling Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign opener, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Smriti Mandhana expressed happiness at how her team is “known to play thrillers” and it was her side which was on the winning side after losing some highly-entertaining matches last season.

The clash between Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, leading the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, the RCB skipper, lived up to the monumental hype built after India’s maiden World Cup title last year as an all-round show from Nadine de Klerk powered the Red and Gold side to a thrilling three-wicket win against the defending champions at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on Friday.

𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘. 𝗔. 𝗕𝗢𝗪, Nadine de Klerk!

She clinches a famous victory for @RCBTweets in the #TATAWPL 2026 opener

Scorecard https://t.co/IWU1URl1fr #KhelEmotionKa | #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/5a9kjYJc2b

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 9, 2026

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Smriti said, “I think for the first match of the WPL, it was a thriller. And RCB are known to play thrillers. Last year, we were on the receiving end of these matches, so happy that we pulled it off. Brilliant from Nadine to finish the match like that. Everyone was pretty positive. We were having a laugh. Even when things were not going well, everyone was pretty positive.”

She also spoke on how Nadine had snatched a match for South Africa during last year’s World Cup against India from the jaws of defeat, powering her side to a successful chase of 250-odd runs from a troublesome situation at 142/6 with her 84* at Visakhapatnam and said that just like MI’s Sajeevan Sajana had made them pay for a catch drop with some quick runs, they were hoping Nadine would also unleash her sixes after getting dropped by Nat Sciver Brunt.

“Yeah, we saw that in Visakhapatnam when she played that innings against us (during the World Cup). And I was just telling our head coach, Malolan, that I think we were in a similar situation against South Africa in the World Cup match, and she pulled it off. And I think when she got dropped, we just said that when we dropped, Sajana got runs – let us hope she gets two sixes. And she actually got them,” she added.

Klerk, named ‘Player of the Match’ for her tidy spell of 4/26 and an explosive 44-ball 63*, with seven fours and two sixes, became just the second player in WPL history after Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma (59* and 4/19 for UP Warriorz against Delhi Capitals) to score a fifty and take four wickets in a WPL match.

Nadine speaking during the post-match presentation said that it is important to cash on the opportunities when it is one’s day to fire. She also pointed out how frustrated she was with how her innings started, but managed to bring an important “never give up” mentality during the match and “stay in the fight”. At one point, Nadine was seven runs in 12 balls, but accelerated well to get 56 runs in the next 32 balls.

“Obviously, lucky with a few chances going my way, just glad we got over the line. It’s always great to start with a win. I think it’s just about coming in and really backing your skills and trying to execute. I think obviously we started really well with Bell and the other bowlers in the power play. I think she bowled exceptionally. So it was probably just for us to come in and try and back that up. Like I said, it’s just kind of sticking to my strengths. Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it does not”.

“I think I was probably a little frustrated, to be honest, at the beginning of my innings. I really struggled to get it away. But I just say, with every batter that I bat with, cricket is a funny game. You just have to stay in the fight. I guess it’s just a massive mentality thing; never give up. T20 cricket, especially, we know on these grounds it’s very good batting wickets, not the biggest boundaries, so you know you can cash in. It was just about giving myself a chance out there, and luckily it came off today,” she said.

The RCB had won the toss and had opted to field first. After MI was reduced to 67/4, an 82-run stand between S Sajana (45 in 25 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Nicola Carey (40 in 29 balls, with four boundaries) took MI to 154/6, with Nadine (4/26) and Lauren Bell (1/14) bowling incredible four-over spells.

Chasing the total, RCB was off to a fine start and put a 40-run opening stand with Grace Harris (25 in 12 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and skipper Smriti Mandhana (18 in 13 balls, with four boundaries) firing all cylinders. Spell from Amelia Kerr (2/13) played a crucial role in swinging tide towards MI’s favour, reducing RCB to 65/5. But a 52-run stand between Nadine and Arundhati Reddy (20 in 25 balls, with two fours) kept RCB alive in the hunt.

With 18 runs left in the final over, after two dot balls against Sciver-Brunt, Nadine nailed her for 6,4,6 and 4 to seal a memorable win, with Prema Rawat (8* in four balls with two fours) playing a little cameo. (ANI)