Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women vs Delhi Capitals Women, Final, Women's Premier League 2026 - Commentary

Yet another season of WPL comes to an end. We have had a ball covering it for you. Hope you have enjoyed it as much as we did in bringing it to you. On that note we slip off into the night. There's lots of cricket coming up, so do come back here again and again. On behalf of our diligent scorer - Siva this is Abhinand Raghavendran signing off. Wish you well. Tata and bye bye.

RCB were the best team in the competition and deservingly finish as winners. They won 5 in a row, then lost two before winning their next two in a row to finish as champs. Smriti batted like a dream and the others chipped in. Whatever they tried worked. Delhi on the other hand were left to deal with heartache again. Fourth time in a row it has happened. What more could they do to win the title, they will be asking themselves. This will hurt them for a long time. After scoring 203, they were blown away by Voll and Smriti. Will take some time to recover from this. So yet another season of WPL ends and with RCB winning, it's the first time that both the men's and women's titles have been held by one franchise ever. Certainly a big achievement that. The party will go on all night on the streets of Bengaluru and wherever RCB's supporters are.

The sky sees gold and red confetti fly high in the air. Smriti is congratulated by Rajesh Menon, the head and vice-president of RCB. Then Smriti goes and picks up a young kid and keeps the kid in her arms. She is chatting away as the celebrations continue.

Mithun Manhas and Devajit Saikia present the WPL trophy to Smriti who collects it and then the entire RCB team pose for the photos. The trophy is hoisted high in the air by Richa Ghosh and then it is passed on to everyone else. Confetti rains from above as the shutterbugs click away. Now the support staff join the squad for photos. Lots of happy faces. The celebrations won't stop for now. Richa sprinkles some golden coloured confetti on top of Radha's head. They now go and pose behind the "ENTHRONED" sign as red confetti rains down on them. Georgia Voll takes a selfie on her mobile phone.

Smriti Mandhana | RCB-W captain: Very pleased. Again, I feel RCB fans are the best fans in the world, wherever we play, we get a lot of support. Even for now, they keep waiting. They know that again, I feel whatever we do is for them. And yeah, I mean, three titles in three years for the franchise. I mean, it's amazing. (a sense of calmness in your side despite conceding 203) Yeah, we definitely did think that it's a good surface to bat on. But of course, 200-plus in a final is definitely a good score. I thought that in the last four overs, we definitely bowled well and pulled it a little better. Again, credit to Lauren Bell. I mean, 400 in a match and she goes for like four overs, 20-odd runs. I mean, that's for me is the match-winning spell. (on the stand with Voll) Yeah, of course, Volly led the way. She had almost all the strike in the powerplay, but her intent was really spot on. And I remember telling the girls 10 or 15 days back that I have a feeling that Volly will get a match-winning knock in the final and really happy, really happy for her. She's been working extremely hard on her game. I saw her practicing extra in the last two, three days. So I'm happy that it paid off for her. (on the support staff) Well, I think when we win, we all can say that oh being calm and chill always works. But one thing which has stood out for me is the way support staff has been around the girls, the role clarity was given. Not only now, just the auction happened and everyone got phone calls and this is what we are looking from you. This is the batting order or this is the phases we want you to bowl in. And that really helps. Credit to Malo, Anya, RX sir and the roles were pretty clear for all the girls and when I think that happens in the right way, I feel our job is pretty easy to come in and just lead the way. (on the belief in the camp) I feel girls are working extremely hard and that's one thing which really shoots up your belief when you work hard in the gym, when you're putting in the hard yards, you have that belief that any score you can chase it down, anything you can do. And yeah, I mean the whole group was very hardworking girls and they put in the hard yards. So once that happens, I feel the 200 on board, we all felt really confident that we could chase it down. Having said that, but what Volly did, I feel was really special. (which is the one player which has impressed you the most this season?) Well, the campaign we've had, everyone has, I feel everyone going back to their home will say that this is what we've contributed in the team. I'll mention two or maybe three players. PK (Prathyoosha Kumar) was our girl who did not get a game and she was there right through every practice session working and giving water and therefore, I mean these things go unnoticed. Then Gautami and Prema, I mean these are two special youngsters and I'm really happy the way they have worked around the group. Again, before going back, I have to thank all the RCB fans again turning up in huge numbers. This one's for you guys. And I said that, I said this in 2024, I'll say it again, that this time it's - Ee sala cup namdu 2! (This year cup is ours) (flashes the number 2 symbol with her left hand) So let's go.

Now the turn of RCB-W to get their limited edition WPL watches. Malolan Rangarajan their head coach collects it on behalf of the team.

Jemimah Rodrigues | DC-W captain: I think I couldn't be more proud of this team. It wasn't easy for us, but the kind of character our girls showed for us to just make it to the finals is something I'm so proud of. And, you know, I couldn't ask for anything better. They're a great bunch of girls. Not just that, but especially our support staff has worked tirelessly after us, making sure our environment's great. And not just that, even our logistics and every single person. You can see the DC fans there screaming, shouting every time. And yeah, all our DC fans all over the world. Thank you so much. (score of 203 on the board, how did she see it?) I think 204 in a final is always a great score. Hats off to the way we played as a team. I think we've been great. You know, if ever you wanted our team to fire and click, it was today. And I think we did that really well. Yeah. There's always, you know, okay, we could have done this better, that better. But I think everyone fought hard. Everyone gave their all. And sometimes that's all, all that's important. (on their season, her thoughts) I think the assessment has been great. You know, it's easier if we start a tournament off well, but to pick ourselves up, even if it's a senior player or even if someone like Niki and Rana, you know, the way they batted that day was phenomenal. They just showed that, you know, what kind of depth is there in Indian cricket. And at the same time, Nandni, she's been great. She honestly did more than what we asked her to do. And I'm so proud of her. Even Minnu, even Minnu for the way she's fielded, the way she showed up. So it's been a great bunch of girls, the experience coming in and as well as, you know, the youngsters learning. I think it's been great.

The match officials get their mementoes. Then it's Delhi's turn to receive their limited edition WPL watches. Jonathan Batty their head coach collects it on behalf of the team.

Sophie Devine | MVP which is Player of the Tournament : I'm hugely honoured to win the Purple cap for the Tata WPL 2026, but really happy to be able to perform for my team. Unfortunately, couldn't make it through to the finals, but I just want to say a huge thank you to not only the WPL, but also all the fans, to the Gujarat Giants. It's been an awesome season for us, so thank you very much to everyone that's come along and supported, not only me, but the team as well.

Nandni Sharma gets the Emerging player of the season award.

Smriti Mandhana gets the Orange cap for most runs.

Sophie Devine gets the Purple cap for most wickets.

We have live visuals and so nice to see Smriti consoling Jemimah - her great friend - the Delhi skipper looks like she has been in tears. So Smriti puts an arm around Jemi, has a chat and forces a smile from her. Then Arundhati Reddy too consoles Jemi. Some RCB-W players pose for photos with the WPL trophy. We await the post-match presentation and the players from both sides are chilling in the meantime.

PoTM award in WPL finals
2023 - Nat Sciver-Brunt (MI)
2024 - Sophie Molineux (RCB)
2025 - Harmanpreet Kaur (MI)
2026 - Smriti Mandhana (RCB)

WPL titles
2023 - MI
2024 - RCB
2025 - MI
2026 - RCB

First time a team finishing first in the points table won a WPL title in four seasons.

Mandhana became the 2nd skipper to lift two titles. She led RCB to a trophy win in 2024. Mumbai Indians Women skipper Harmanpreet has won the trophy twice (2023 and 2025).

This is the first time that a 175-plus target has been chased down in any Women's T20 final - leagues or internationals.