WPL 2026: Sciver-Brunt’s century powers MI past RCB despite Ghosh’s 90

Mumbai Indians held off a stunning late assault from Richa Ghosh to beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 15 runs in a thrilling 2026 Womens Premier League WPL clash at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on MondayChasing 200 RCB collapsed to 355 in the powerplay as Hayley Matthews and Shabnim Ismail tore through the top order leaving the side in huge danger of suffering a big hit to their net run rate But Richa had other ideas as she launched a breathtaking counterattack smashing 90 off 50 balls with 10 fours and six sixes to nearly pull off an improbable victoryAfter crawling to 55 off 40 balls in 18 overs Ghosh exploded in the final two plundering 35 runs to give MI a genuine scare before falling agonisingly short of a win by being dismissed on the last ball as RCB ended up making 1849Apart from those last two overs it was a commanding performance from MI who have kept their playoff hopes alive Hayley returned with figures of 310 as the win lifted MI back to second place on the points tableNat SciverBrunt had earlier struck the first century in WPLrsquos history to propel MI to a formidable 1994 After Hayley and Shabnim did the early damage Richa found support from Nadine de Klerk and Arundhati Reddy in the middle order but the early damage proved to be too severe despite her late heroicsThe defeat marks RCBs second consecutive loss after winning their opening five matches For MI the victory provided a crucial confidence boost in a mustwin encounter with their senior players delivering when it mattered most despite the late wobbleThe game will find a special mention in the history books as batting allrounder Nat etched her name into the record books by becoming the first batter to score a century in the WPL After 1059 days and 82 matches the WPL finally witnessed its first centurion and fittingly it was achieved by Nat who also registered her maiden T20 hundredWalking in early she absorbed the pressure before shifting gears with sublime strokeplay and sizzling timing to dismantle the RCB attack in an unbeaten 57ball century laced with 16 fours and a six Partnering with Hayley who made a 39ball 56 Nat ensured MI surged past the previous highest total at the venue this seasonThe duo stitched a 131run stand with boundaries flowing freely once they settled in Though Hayley departed after getting her fifty Nat carried on to reach the magical threefigure mark in the final overRCBrsquos bowling unit endured a tough outing with only Lauren Bell managing some control and picking 221 in her four overs The rest of them struggled with their lengths either too full or too short and were punished accordingly by MIrsquos battersSent in to bat first Sajeevan Sajana struck an early boundary but was trapped lbw by Lauren Bell in the third over Nat then joined Hayley and the pair stitched together a commanding stand The duo took time to settle before opening up in the middle oversSciverBruntrsquos fluent strokeplay especially through the legside and Hayleyrsquos acceleration saw MI surge past the 100run mark in the 12th over Hayley completed her halfcentury but was bowled by Lauren for 56 ending a fine partnership that had put MI firmly in controlSkipper Harmanpreet Kaur kept the tempo high with a brisk 20 off 12 balls striking two fours and a six before falling to Nadine de Klerk Amanjot Kaur chipped in briefly but the spotlight remained on SciverBrunt who continued to dominate the RCB attackBoundaries flowed freely as SciverBrunt raced into the 90s She brought up her maiden T20 hundred and the firstever century in WPL history in the penultimate over with a single through longoff and finished unbeaten on 100 off 57 balls Though Amanjot was castled by Shreyanka Patil MI closed on 1994 the highest total at the venue this seasonMI struck early with the ball when Shabnim had Grace Harris who earlier hit SciverBrunt for a hattrick of fours in the third over by having caught behind by Rahila Firdous Hayley compounded RCBrsquos woes by dismissing skipper Smriti Mandhana and Georgia Voll in quick succession More cheer was in store for MI when Gautami Naik was bowled by Shabnim while Radha Yadav fell for a twoball duck to Hayley as RCB were five down in powerplayNadine de Klerk attempted a fightback with 28 off 20 balls striking a six and three boundaries but was undone by Amelia Kerrrsquos googly in the 11th over When Arundhati Reddy and Sayali Satghare departed in successive deliveries from Amanjot Kaur it left RCB at 1298At the other end Richa fought a lone battle She began cautiously but accelerated after the halfway mark cutting and lofting for her boundaries She reached her halfcentury with a six over sweeper cover off Nat and then launched a stunning counterattack in the death oversGhosh smashed three consecutive sixes off Amanjot Kaur in the 18th over followed by two more maximums and a four off Kerr in the penultimate over raising hopes of an improbable win But she was eventually caught by Sanskriti Gupta off Amelia for a magnificent 90 as RCBrsquos challenge resulted in another defeat for themBrief scoresMumbai Indians 1994 in 20 overs Nat SciverBrunt 100 not out Hayley Matthews 56 Lauren Bell 221 Shreyanka Patil 134 beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 1849 in 20 overs Richa Ghosh 90 Nadine de Klerk 28 Hayley Matthews 310 Shabnim Ismail 225 by 15 runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever