RCB continue on their winning ways and unearth new stars. Gautami Naik’s classy 73 takes them to a decent score before Sayali Satghare runs through Gujarat Giants top order.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are running through the Women’s Premier League like a juggernaut. After an all-win record at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, Smriti Mandhana and her troops began the Vadodara leg in similar dominant fashion, inflicting a 61-run defeat on Gujarat Giants to seal a spot in the playoffs.
Once RCB had put 178/6 batting first, the chasing team was never in the game, after being reduced to 5/3 in less than three overs.
New star rises
Smriti and Grace Harris had often given express starts to the RCB team, whether batting first or chasing. Richa Ghosh and Nadine de Klerk were there to provide the subsequent firepower. But on Monday, little-known Gautami Naik stole the show with a 55-ball 73, which included seven fours and a six. RCB were reduced to 69/3 with the run rate at a little over six an over, when Gautami and Richa got the innings back on track.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants players after the WPL 2026 match in Vadodara. (PHOTO: CREIMAS FOR WPL)
At 27, years of age, Gautami has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. Playing for Ratnagiri Jets in the Women’s Maharashtra Premier League, where she opened the batting with Smriti, got her on the radar.
She started slowly, but after getting into her stride, unfurled some lovely shots. She began with a pleasing cover-drive over Kashvee Gautam and soon deposited Renuka Singh Thakur over square leg for a maximum. Most of her boundaries came on the off-side, but as her innings progressed, Gautami began displaying her prowess around the ground as the scoring rate climbed significantly.
HIGHLIGHTS | GUJARAT GIANTS VS ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU WPL 2026
Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil provided the late-order ballast, but if RCB had got to a total they could defend – which hadn’t been done in the WPL at the venue – they had Gautami to thank.
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Sayali shines again
Sayali Satghare had run through the Delhi Capitals top order in the previous game in Navi Mumbai on Saturday. That was her first match of the season, but the seamer proved it was no fluke. She nipped the GG chase in the bud getting rid of their overseas batting firepower – Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine and Ashleigh Gardner in her four-over spell that returned figures of 3/21.
Mooney, the accomplished Aussie left-hander, was castled off the first ball of Sayali’s spell by a delivery that shaped back and hit the top of the stumps.
In the same over, Kiwi Devine swung a delivery not short enough to the long legside boundary and found Georgia Voll at deep midwicket.
GG skipper Gardner fought a lone battle with a 54 in 43 balls before slicing a wide yorker to backward point.
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Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 178/6 (Gautami Naik 73) beat Gujarat Giants 117/8 (Ashleigh Gardner 54; Sayali Satghare 3/21, Nadine de Klerk 2/17) by 61 runs
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