WPL 2026: How Smriti Mandhana battled severe fever to lead RCB to second title

The veteran batter Smriti Mandhana once again displayed her class to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second Women's Premier League (WPL) title on Thursday.

Reportedly, Mandhana was down with a high fever of 103°F the night before the final, but she overcame that to play a match-winning 41-ball 87 in the final.

"Smriti, thank you for turning up to the match without any complaints. I know how ill you were last night," said RCB coach Malolan Rangarajan in the dressing room. 

"For people who didn't know, she had a 103-degree fever last evening. She did whatever she could to be fully fit and available for us," the coach further noted.

Chasing a mammoth total of 204, RCB lost a very early wicket when Chinelle Henry cleaned up Australian batter Grace Harris in just the second over.

But then captain Smriti Mandhana came to rescue and, alongside Georgia Voll, took the team almost to the finish line.

Smriti was adjudged as the man of the match and also won the orange cap for finishing as the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 377 runs from 9 matches.

Fresh from the maiden ODI World Cup title, Smriti now added another title to her name, continuing her fabulous form despite all the off-field challenges.