Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews win it for Mumbai Indians as RCB falter again

Nat Sciver-Brunt tons up to humble RCB in WPL 2026 [Source: @wplt20/x]

Mumbai Indians Women ran roughshod over table-toppers RCB Women in match number 16 of the WPL 2026 season. English legend Nat Sciver-Brunt took charge for the defending champions and muscled a record WPL century, the first-ever in the history of the tournament.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights from the 16th match of the WPL 2026 season between Mumbai Indians Women vs RCB Women, as it panned out at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Monday, January 26.

Nat Sciver-Brunt tons up to storm Mumbai Indians to 199

Winning the toss and opting to field first, RCB fast bowler Lauren Bell instantly justified her captain’s call by trapping Mumbai Indians opener Sajeevan Sajana for a run-a-ball seven in the third over of the match. Sajana’s partner Hayley Matthews and number three Nat Sciver-Brunt subsequently formed forces to compile a record 131-run partnership for the second wicket.

Hayley belted nine elegant boundaries to chart 56 regal runs from 39 deliveries. With Mumbai Indians racing to 147-1 around 15 overs, the West Indies-based opener got knocked over by Lauren Bell amidst the latter’s return spell. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur also unleashed a cracking 12-ball 20 with two fours and a six to provide the slog-overs impetus for her side.

Nat Sciver-Brunt, however, maintained the same tempo throughout the innings. After charting a 32-ball fifty around the halfway stage, the legendary English batter raced to a record century in the final over from 57 deliveries with 16 fours and a six. The innings marked the first-ever individual hundred for any player in the history of the WPL.

Despite losing Harmanpreet Kaur and Amanjot Kaur in quick succession, the Mumbai Indians charted a statement 199-4 in 20 overs. For the RCB, in-form pacer Lauren Bell unfurled sensational figures of 2-21 in the high-scoring innings. Nadine de Klerk (1-40) and Shreyanka Patil (1-34) also chipped in with a wicket each at the death.

RCB Women lose half its side inside powerplay

Chasing a record target of 200, RCB Women dished out the initial punches by racing to 20-0 at the end of the first two overs. Grace Harris herself blazed her way to 15 off 9 balls with three alluring boundaries before her top-order blitz was curtailed by legendary new ball operator Shabnim Ismail.

Captain Smriti Mandhana (6 off 7) and number three Georgia Voll (9 off 6) also followed suite in the following over courtesy of wily off-spinner Hayley Matthews. A few moments later, Shabnim Ismail knocked over Gautami Naik for just a single and Hayley trapped Radha Yadav for a two-ball duck as RCB Women crashed to 35-5 in 5.1 overs.

Losing each of their top five batters inside the powerplay, RCB Women found themselves staring at an uphill task far too steep to climb.

Richa Ghosh leads RCB’s late fireworks, in vain

Tottering at 35-5, Richa Ghosh and Nadine de Klerk crafted a 42-run partnership to lift RCB’s dwindling run-chase. After Nadine (28 off 20) got deceived by Amelia Kerr at 77-6, Richa shared another 52-run partnership with Arundhati Reddy (14 off 18).

The blistering RCB stumper ended up whacking 90 runs from 50 balls through her late surge, but her breathtaking knock merely kept her side’s defeat margin down to 15 runs. Shreyanka Patil also played her part with a 15-run unbeaten cameo towards the end as RCB charted 184-9 in response.

For the victorious Mumbai Indians, Hayley Matthews (3-10) and Shabnim Ismail (2-25) set the tone with their sublime powerplay gambit.