When the third wicket fell at 10:05 PM, Radha Yadav came out of the dugout to stand guard in the middle. She rolled her shoulders and moved more slowly than normal toward the pitch. There weren’t many candidates for the most bizarre cricket judgment in the WPL’s brief history, so it was an unexpected sight.
It wasn’t a pinch-hitter’s experimental promotion. On the team sheet, it was just as scheduled. Six additional bowlers and other bowling all-rounders trailed her, holding the batting hopes of a mediocre run chase.
Radha’s self-confessed credentials with the bat – and her role in the middle order in domestic cricket – aside, only twice has she batted above No 8 in T20Is. For a player with a highest score of 14 in T20Is, and 27* across all premier T20 games (in which she has batted at No 8 or below on 39 out of 50 occasions), it was a heavy responsibility to bear.
Thus, when she walked in to bat with the scoreboard reading 62 for 3 in the seventh over, it doesn’t entirely come as a surprise that RCB didn’t really make a 155-run chase – the kind of score for which the RCB coach would have ‘given an arm’ – seem like a stroll.
Radha was cleaned up with a googly after Amelia Kerr got her to play the wrong line with just one ball. Despite having the advantage for the first 23 overs of the match, RCB were forced to play the chase after Richa Ghosh was dismissed three deliveries later at 65 for 5.
It wasn’t by coincidence that RCB’s choice put them in this predicament. It was intentional. They went in with the extra bowlers even though they had the hard-hitting Georgia Voll on the bench. Only six of the nine possibilities were utilized. Their bowling stocks were so abundant that they didn’t even require the spin of No. 9 batsman Prema Rawat, let alone the choices of Grace Harris and D Hemalatha.
“It was a selection call [to not play Georgia Voll],” RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan acknowledged on Friday after his club defeated the Mumbai Indians in the WPL 2026 opener.We wanted to enter with that combo. We’ve always had an overseas spinner in our lineup since 2024, and we think that’s how we want to line up. That being said, anything might occur. We were crystal clear.
“Even where we batted Radha, you can see that it wasn’t just the day before. Radha bats at numbers four and five for Baroda and for India A. Thus, we’re testing the effectiveness of our player combinations. She has also been batting really well with Aru. She knows how to score runs and has a well-defined strategy. Everybody scores runs in a different method.She had to buckle up a bit today. The way she got out was unfortunate. I’m sure she would say she would like to hit it harder if given the choice. And we fully support her to succeed the next time.”
He went on to elaborate on that explanation. “Over the past two months, a great deal of work has been done behind the scenes. We simply aren’t showing up the day before the game and selecting an 11. Understanding how we want to play and what it takes to win the tournament has taken a great deal of consideration and attention to detail. It was simply a combination, then.
“We believe Linsey [Smith] is a world-class bowler, which is why we supported her. In the past eight months, she has won two titles with the Hobart Hurricane Women and the Northern Superchargers. She’s been doing great. We will therefore support her. Not just Linsey Smith, but all of our players will be supported. Everyone is aware of the situation. They are knowledgeable and aware of their responsibilities.
At different times, different players contributed to confirm RCB’s way of thinking. The game lasted long enough to keep the reigning champions on their toes, and Arundhati Reddy made sure it wasn’t a free-fall for RCB after Ghosh’s expulsion. Late in the chase, Prema Rawat contributed with fast runs under duress.
Similar to Radha, these players—Arundhati, Shreyanka Patil, and Prema Rawat—have not received as many requests for their batting credentials outside of domestic cricket as they would have preferred. But RCB’s chances of winning again depended on de Klerk’s late attack, which had been used to save South Africa in crucial moments during the most recent World Cup.
De Klerk had her fair share of good fortune. survived a run-out opportunity after dropping three times. She needed to score eight runs per over in the final four overs because the chase did not proceed at the speed she had anticipated. However, she was able to muscle two sixes and as many boundaries when forced to a corner in the last over.
A more balanced lineup might have given RCB the advantage in a game that was so tight and in which they played the chase when they should have been ahead. Even though there was no dew, according to Malolan, RCB had the advantage after winning the toss at a stadium where the chasing club won seven out of ten games in WPL 2023. Lauren Bell’s opening spell had put the reigning champions firmly on the defensive, solidifying their position of strength.
From the standpoint of the Mumbai Indians’ batting, the game was also rather unusual.
Amelia Kerr, who had entered to start the innings in Hayley Matthews’ absence, was completely lost in swinging conditions. She was initially beaten by an inswinger and then failed to connect a drive to outswingers three times in a row. She finally top-edged a hoick to the extra cover fielder after taking 11 balls to get off the mark. For the first time in thirteen innings, Nat-Sciver Brunt fell for a single-digit score after missing a drive and was stumped off the third ball. Before collapsing on 20, Harmanpreet Kaur managed a couple hits but mostly struggled.
The three veterans had a combined total of 28. It wasn’t the kind of start MI had been receiving for the previous three seasons, thus it was an uncommon failure. Over the previous three seasons, MI’s top five, which is among the best in the league, had scored 3579 runs at an average of 30.85. It was up to the three of them to manage MI’s innings because Matthews wasn’t available for the first game and Yastika Bhatia had moved to the Gujarat Giants. The lowest total score these five could muster while playing was 37.
For MI, this was a novel situation. However, similar to de Klerk, S Sajana used being put down twice early in her innings—to D Hemalatha at mid wicket and to Sayali Satghare at mid off—to amass 45 runs in her 25-ball stint in the middle. Nicola Carey helped her out by contributing 40 more, bringing MI’s total to a solid but below-average level.
On the other hand, RCB got off to a fast start and nearly threatened to track down the target before the reigning champions could get into the longish tail. Sciver-Brunt and Carey were destroyed by Grace Harris and Smriti Mandhana, who hammered 39 runs in three overs to start the carnage. However, once a few wickets were taken, the momentum quickly changed, and the question of the combination became nagging.
At the conclusion of the auctions, it was evident that RCB was consistently developing into a squad full of bowlers and bowling all-rounders. Furthermore, Sayali Satghare was brought in when it came time to find Ellyse Perry’s replacement.
“In the auction, obviously, we picked Voll in the first batter’s set,” Malolan explained. Then we had an opportunity. Nadine’s service had already been arranged. We knew what we could accomplish if we didn’t win Shikha [Pandey] after we lost the bid. Thus, Grace Harris, Pooja [Vastrakar], and Aru became opportunities for us to take advantage of. We were able to acquire three players for that sum, which was also anticipated.
You could see how much damage Grace could do in the first three overs if you have a player like her. Let her bat for 8, 12, 10, or 15 overs in an attempt to do that. We have no intention of stopping her. Release the strain on Smriti. Mandhana There is a lot of talk surrounding Ellyse Perry, the player who is clearly lacking for us. You can skin the cat in a variety of ways. People want us to hit a lot.We could ask our current hitters to do the work, or we could go batting heavy. As a result, we want our hitters to enter the game. If it’s Grace, she steps in and does what she does best: put pressure back on the opponents and take on the bowlers.”
The two points provide enough margin for the plans to remain in place for some time, and a victory to launch the campaign only serves to bolster confidence in that unorthodox and audacious approach. “We’ve given everyone a role,” acknowledged Malolan. “The fact that we won is a wonderful thing. Once more, we can consider back players for that position.”
