Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana combined to hammer the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women to a nine-wicket win over the UP Warriorz Women in their Women’s Premier League match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday night.
Set a below par 144 to win, Australian international Harris was in a league of her own, smashing five sixes and 10 fours in her 85 off 40 balls, while Indian international Mandhana backed her up with a solid 47* off 32 (9x4), during a brutal 137-run opening stand.
That saw them cruise past the target with a massive 47 balls remaining, to give them their second straight win to move back top of the log early in the competition.
One gear only and it’s full throttle. 🚀🔥
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) January 12, 2026
𝗚𝗿𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 doesn’t waste time. 🥱#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #WPL2026 #RCBvUPW pic.twitter.com/2oVK4c4jmr
Earlier it was RCB that won the toss and put the Warriorz in to bat.
It looked to be the correct call as they reduced them to 50-5 within the first nine overs before they were rescued by Deepti Sharma, 45* off 35 (5x4; 1x6), and Deandra Dottin, 40* off 37 (3x4; 1x6) to get them to 143-5 and help give their bowlers something to defend.
Openers Meg Lanning (14) and Harleen Deol (11) struggled at the start of the innings, sharing in a 21-run partnership off 26 balls, before Deol was caught by Mandhana off the bowling of Lauren Bell.
Having been just 36-1 after the powerplay, Lanning then fell soon after at the start of the eighth over, caught by Radha Yadav at deep midwicket off Shreyanka Patil, with the score 39-2.
Phoebe Litchfield, 20 off 11 (3x4; 1x6), looked like she was trying to relieve the pressure as she crunched a four and a six off Patil, before a team hat-trick followed.
The last ball of the over saw Litchfield flat bat Patil straight to Mandhana at mid-on, while the first two balls of the ninth over saw first-match hero Nadine de Klerk pick up two wickets.
First Kiran Navgire (5) skied her to Linsey Smith at deep midwicket, followed by Shweta Sehrawat plonking it to Arundhati Reddy at deep backward point, as they crashed to 50-5.
But that brought Dottin in to join Sharma and they set about an unbeaten 93-run stand off 70 balls, which included them hitting 67 runs off the final six overs to get them to a score that they could have had a chance of defending if they bowled well.
De Klerk was the pick of the RCB bowlers with 2-28, while Bell (1-16) and Reddy (0-18) were economical and Patil (2-50) picked up two wickets but was expensive.
HARRIS IN A HURRY
The RCB chase was then dominated by Harris as she launched the ball to all parts of the ground, but she initially took a little bit of time to get going, with her on 25 off 17 and the score 46-0 after five overs.
But she targeted the final over of the powerplay from Dottin, dispatching her for three sixes and three fours as 32 runs came off it, which set them off.
Harris then almost powered them home, assisted by a couple of drop catches, but fell just before the end, caught by Lanning off Shikha Pandey, which was the Warriorz' only success in the chase as Mandhana eased them over the line for a dominant win.
Hmmmm….🙂#iykyk pic.twitter.com/7gWUJ0LK3y
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) January 12, 2026
UP WARRIORZ WOMEN: Kiran Navgire, Meg Lanning (capt), Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Shweta Sehrawat (wk), Deandra Dottin, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana, Shikha Pandey, Kranti Gaud
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU WOMEN: Grace Harris, Smriti Mandhana (capt), Dayalan Hemalatha, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gautami Naik, Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell