RCB crush Gardner’s Gujarat Giants to qualify for WPL playoffs with 5 wins in 5 matches

RCB Women thump Gujarat Giants in WPL 2026 [Source: @RCBTweets/x]

RCB Women pulverized Gujarat Giants to register their fifth successive win this WPL 2026 season. Fitting placed at the top of the five-team standings, RCB’s NRR also received a significant boost heading into the second half of the tournament.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights from the 12th match of the WPL 2026 season between RCB Women and Gujarat Giants Women, as it panned out at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Monday, January 19.

Gautami Naik bolts RCB Women to 178 despite early setbacks

RCB Women batted first and lost senior Australian opener Grace Harris for just a single to Renuka Singh in the first over of the match. Georgia Voll at number three also got knocked over for one from three balls in the following over by Gujarat Giants pacer Kashvee Gautam.

RCB captain and prolific opener Smriti Mandhana belted four boundaries in her enterprising cameo of 26 from 23 balls, but the cricketer failed to make the most of her confident start by getting trapped plumb in front to Ashleigh Gardner around the halfway stage of the innings.

Gautami Naik at number four held the RCB innings together, top-scoring with 73 from 55 balls with seven cracking boundaries and a six. Her 69-run partnership with blistering wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh (27 off 20) helped RCB Women mount a competitive 178-6 in 20 overs. Radha Yadav smeared two fours and a six in her slog-overs cameo of 17 off eight balls, while Shreyanka Patel belted successive boundaries to close off the innings.

For the Gujarat Giants, both Kashvee Gautam (2-38) and Ashleigh Gardner (2-43) picked up a wicket each in the slog overs to claim four wickets between them. Renuka Singh (1-23) and Sophie Devine (1-25) struck once in their respective economical spells as the two international stars conceded runs at around just six-an-over.

Sayali Satghare, Nadine de Klerk strangle Giants despite Gardner’s 54

RCB Women’s fast bowler Sayali Satghare struck twice in her opening over with the wickets of both Gujarat Giants openers, Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine, dismissing the latter of the two for a four-ball duck. Kanika Ahuja at number four also failed to trouble the scorers as she was knocked over by Lauren Bell (1-23) as the Giants slipped to 5-3 in three overs.

Anushka Sharma made 18 from 20 balls with three boundaries, and Kashvee Gautam and Georgia Wareham both fell in single digits as Giants’ troubles worsened at 56-6.

Captain Ashleigh Gardner restored some respectability to the Gujarat Giants innings with her 54-run knock from 43 balls with five fours and a six. Bharti Fulmali (14 off 15) and Tanuja Kanwar (11*) also listed handy runs at the death as the Giants reached 117-8 in 20 overs.

With RCB Women securing an emphatic 61-run win, Sayali Satghare hogged the limelight with the ball through her figures of 3-21. Nadine de Klerk (2-17) dismissed Wareham in her return spell, while her teammates Bell, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patel also picked up a wicket each.