Even before the Powerplay was complete, RCB's top four were back in the dugout. The attempt to hold Richa Ghosh's power-hitting for a bit later in the innings back, didn't work for too long. She had to eventually walk in at No 6, with three balls of field restrictions still on. The real test of RCB's audacious experiment with the bat was finally on. Radha Yadav, at No 5, to give company to Richa in the middle.

In the opening game, a Nadine de Klerk special had saved RCB the ignominy of a defeat in a 155-run chase. In the second, Grace Harris's assault upfront ensured their middle order experiment didn't require a trial. On Friday, there was no escape. Down to 43/4, it was time to unveil what only the RCB team management knew - that Radha Yadav was a worthy No. 5 for a stage as elite as the Women's Premier League.

For a player who has batted at No. 8 - or below - in 39 out of 50 international and WPL games coming into the tournament, Radha was left with big boots to fill in the absence of the injured Pooja Vastrakar at No. 5. Having played the middle order role for nearly a decade for Baroda, for long Radha had valued her ability with the bat. This season it was time for her to test it out in an open-match scenario, and vindicate the faith the team management had shown in her secondary skill.

The first delivery that she received, at full length by Renuka Singh, was confidently driven to mid off. The next was knocked towards mid on. And then, one punched to covers. None of the three shots yielded a run, but with wickets falling quickly regularly, she had to restore the balance, and keep a check on her aggressive instincts. She pulled, flicked some off the pads, and was comfortable with the drives.

For 10 balls, she held back, scoring only three runs. And then, against Georgia Wareham, she carved one through point, and followed it up by sending a loopy delivery straight down the track for a six.

While Richa was looking to bide her time in the middle, Radha started to move on. Even as boundaries began to flow, she wasn't experimenting with danger. Spinners and pacers kept offering width for her to free her long arms and play through the offside.

Uncertain if it was a thought out tactic, but Gujarat Giants head coach Michael Klinger admitted the ploy to be a faulty one - whether intentional or not. A similar tactic was employed even by Renuka Singh, much after the movement had become negligible with the older ball.

Moreover, despite having a couple of more options in the left-arm spin duo of Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Tanuja Kanwar, Gardner employed only five bowlers to break the partnership, none of whom caused any significant trouble. Radha was able to keep scoring freely without having to overhit. For a good part of her early inning, she didn't take the aerial route and was happy to keep the drives and flicks on the ground, and rely on finding gaps.

Even in brief phases when boundaries dried up, she could rotate strike without chewing up dot deliveries. As the partnership flourished, even Richa started picking up pace from the other end, while Radha shifted to toying around with the field.

"We knew she was a good player," Klinger admitted. "And I think you were spot on there. Outside the power play, we just didn't quite get our lines right with the ball. Once the ball stopped swinging, we just weren't able to keep stumps in play and gave a lot of free-fours with width. So that's something we obviously need to rectify."

After the experiment of bowling wide outside off wasn't helping their cause, they moved to cramming her on the legside, for which Radha countered by giving herself room and crafting the ball towards the vacant regions on the offside. She even shuffled across and hit the ball past the 'keeper.

As her innings progressed, Radha smoothly shifted gears, and en route to becoming only the third Indian batter to register a half-century this season, she displayed the whole range of tempo: cautiously protecting the wicket when needed, rotating the strike and picking regular boundaries through the middle overs, and then providing the surge once she crossed 35. She used the breadth of the crease well to counter the field setting, and in turn, offset the plans of the bowlers.

Here's a breakdown of her innings progression:

Balls 1-10 - 3 runs

Balls 11-20 -19 runs

Balls 21-30 - 13 runs

Balls 31-40 - 25 runs

Balls 41-47 - 6 runs

She drove, cut, pulled and even went down the ground with the natural ease of a No. 5 batter. She did enjoy her share of luck as well, being put down twice by some of the better fielders on the park - Ash Gardner and Bharti Fulmali. Nonetheless, that was to take away very little from the fine exhibition of her batting.

"The first ball I faced, I middled," Radha explained. "I then knew I have done this before for the state and for India A. So I had that confidence. But to do it here for the first time on this stage gives me a lot of joy. [When I was batting with Richa] she told me 'be calm, see what the opposition were doing, dot balls will come, don't worry. We can capitalise later on as we have the shots'.

"The conversation I had with Richa was very crucial. It wasn't an easy situation to bat in as we had lost four wickets. I will give full credit to Richa for the way she spoke to me. I know I have the shots, the game, the temperament and everything but the way Richa passed on the confidence was very important."

Radha stitched a game-changing partnership of 105 runs in only 66 balls with Richa, which was soon followed by a short blitz from Nadine de Klerk, which laid the foundation of RCB's 32-run win.

Explaining the reason to play Radha so high in RCB's batting order, skipper Smriti Mandhana said, "She's always played that role for the state team, and she's always done well, even when India A toured Australia. We knew that she always bats at that number, and we always look at her as a finisher.

"When we lost out on Pooja for the first four-five matches where we thought of her pre-auction, the easiest swap was Radha because she's done that for the state team. WPL is an Indian league, and if someone's batted at that order in state cricket, you should back them to do that."

The experiment with Radha may not exactly seem like an 'experiment' anymore given the way she batted on Friday, but the lop-sided balance of the side is still striking. RCB's decision to persist with the left-arm spin of Linsey Smith to bowl the powerplay at the cost of some muscle in the top-order (when only six out of eight bowling options are being used every game), is still a mystery.

Smith has not been able to create much of an impact as yet. But much like the batting of Radha, maybe there's something that the RCB team management is trusting with the English spinner as well. Whether it pays off or backfires in the future, three wins in three games - and a place at the top of the table - is enough to validate their plannings and execution for now.

After all, when the spotlight, the opportunity and the pressure converged, Radha Yadav was ready to announce herself as RCB's able No 5.