Nadine de Klerk’s all-round masterclass to Lauren Bell’s discipline: RCB’s top performers against MI

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru got off to a winning start in WPL 2026. A resounding all-round performance from Nadine de Klerk defined the win for RCB as they were caught in a serious soup in the middle until Nadine came out to bat. However, apart from the South African's all-round show, there were quite a few impressive performances getting the wheels in motion for RCB. Here are RCB’s top three performers in their clash against Mumbai Indians in the WPL opener.

·      Nadine de Klerk – 63* and 4/26

It goes without saying that de Klerk was the tormentor-in-chief of Mumbai Indians. With the ball in her hands, she had an impressive showdown, registering figures of 4/26. She picked the wickets of Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana and Nicola Carey. With the bat in her hands, she started slow but hunkered down to business in no time at all. Her rock-solid performance eventually propelled RCB across the finish line on the final ball of the game.

·      Lauren Bell – 1/14

Bell’s first over for RCB was a maiden as she left one of the finest in business, Amelia Kerr, struggling for form. With the new ball swerving around, Kerr had no clue what she was up against as Bell looked in total control. The first two overs saw Bell conceding just one run. Eventually on the final ball of her third over, she put Kerr out of her misery as she holed out to Arundhati Reddy. She kept her lines tight which gave MI very little to work with.

·      Grace Harris – 25

Despite the number being modest, Grace Harris did get RCB a rollicking start. Combining well with Smriti Mandhana, Harris propelled RCB to 40 runs in the first three overs. She took Nicola Carey for plenty of runs, clobbering 11 runs of that over. She inflicted serious heat on Nat Sciver-Brunt as well with a fine boundary down the ground before holing out to Shabnim Ismail at long-on. However, by then, she had set the tempo perfectly for RCB.