WPL 2026: Smriti Mandhana battles fever to deliver a match-winning knock for RCB in final

The star opening batter Smriti Mandhana once again showed her class and led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to its 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 before playing a match-winning 41-ball 87 in the final.

Chasing a Mammoth total of 204, RCB lost a very early wicket when Chinelle Henry clean bowled 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 with her aggressive hitting with a strike rate of over 200.

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 games.

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.