Five games into their campaign, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already achieved what most teams spend an entire league phase chasing — qualification for the playoffs. And they’ve done it with an authority that suggests they’re only getting started. As the Vadodara leg of WPL 2026 got underway, table-toppers RCB carried forward the same ruthless momentum that defined their sweep through Navi Mumbai, delivering yet another all-round masterclass to dismantle Gujarat Giants and make it five wins from five this season — six in a row, including their victory to end the previous edition, an unprecedented streak in the league’s brief history, reports Live Cricket Score.
Gujarat Giants had pushed RCB hard in patches during the reverse fixture and would have backed themselves to do so again while chasing 178, especially at a venue whose true nature was still being uncovered this season. After all, the Giants entered the game with the best PowerPlay run-rate of WPL 2026 (10.08), comfortably ahead of even RCB (9.04).
What they ran into, though, was a bowling attack that has set the gold standard in the PowerPlay across every metric — wickets (11), average (18.09), strike rate (16.3), economy (6.63), dot-ball percentage (53.8) and boundary percentage (17.22). And the contest tilted decisively in those first few overs.
Sayali Satghare struck early to remove Beth Mooney before inducing Sophie Devine to pick out deep mid-wicket in the same over. Lauren Bell then cleaned up Kanika Ahuja, leaving the Giants reeling at 5 for 3. They limped to just 29 for 3 by the end of the PowerPlay, and despite Ash Gardner’s lone resistance — a 43-ball 54 — the early damage proved fatal. Gujarat never recovered, eventually slipping to a 61-run defeat that also dented their net run rate.
For RCB, the win came in two clear phases on a black-soil surface that offered noticeably less bounce than the DY Patil tracks. Much like the reverse fixture, they first had to claw their way out of early trouble before surging late, powered by a superb 73 from Gautami Naik — the highest score by an uncapped Indian in this WPL season so far.
Gardner’s decision to field initially appeared spot on. Her bowlers rattled RCB early, reducing them to 9 for 2 inside two overs. Renuka Singh’s inswinger accounted for Grace Harris, who managed just a single before holing out at mid-on, while Kashvee Gautam struck next as Georgia Voll dragged an attempted cut onto her stumps.
That’s when Naik took charge. Batting with maturity beyond her years, she rebuilt the innings with calm assurance. By the end of the PowerPlay, RCB had crawled to 37, with Smriti Mandhana anchoring on 18 off 16. Fresh from a 96 in the previous game, Mandhana couldn’t push on this time and was trapped LBW by Gardner after a review — the 10th time Gardner has dismissed her across competitions.
Still wobbling and scoring barely at a run a ball, RCB found momentum through a counterattacking stand between Naik and Richa Ghosh. The pair took 13 off a Georgia Wareham over, and Naik soon reached her fifty off 42 balls. She was handed a reprieve soon after when Kashvee spilt a chance running in from long-off. A defining feature of Naik’s knock was her versatility — swinging cleanly through the line even when beaten for pace, while also going back deep in the crease to cut and punch through the off side.
With the platform set, RCB surged in the final five overs. Ghosh kick-started the assault by taking down Tanuja Kanwer for two sixes in a 17-run over. Ghosh fell for a brisk 27 off 20 balls, and Naik soon followed for a commanding 73 off 55, but the late fireworks were far from over.
Radha Yadav struck Sophie Devine for a six and opened the final over with two boundaries off Kashvee. Shreyanka Patil, facing just two deliveries, found the fence twice — once with a whip behind square and then with an audacious reverse sweep. With Gujarat conceding 21 extras, including 15 wides, RCB raced to 178 — a total that had seemed unlikely when even 160 looked ambitious midway through the innings. The 64 runs scored in the last five overs ultimately exceeded the margin of victory itself.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 178/6 in 20 overs (Gautami Naik 73, Richa Ghosh 27; Kashvee Gautam 2-38)
beat
Gujarat Giants 117/8 in 20 overs (Ash Gardner 54; Sayali Satghare 3-21, Nadine de Klerk 2-17)
by 61 runs
