Really sticking to my strengths – Nadine de Klerk

Nadine de Klerk took her wicket tally to 15 wickets in WPL 2026 as she jumped to the top of the pile after a brilliant performance against the UP Warriorz. A haul of four wickets against the Warriorz that included the likes of Meg Lanning, Amy Jones, Simran Shaikh and Sophie Ecclestone saw de Klerk applying a screeching halt to the aspirations of a warring finish from the Warriorz.

UP Warriorz finished at 143/8 from their allotment of 20 overs after the opening partnership between Deepti Sharma and Meg Lanning got them into a decent position. Nadine delivered the first two blows for RCB, simplifying the equation for the Red and Gold brigade. She concluded with figures of 4-0-22-4.

Talking at the innings break, Nadine opened up on bagging the Purple Cap for now. She also shed light on how she plotted to bowl against Meg Lanning and Amy Jones, spilling the beans on the secret ingredient that worked wonders for her.

Raving about her emotions, the South African all-rounder said, “Always nice to contribute. They got off to a flier. To get a couple of wickets (to slow them down), felt nice. We will definitely take this score (after their start). The planning has been pretty good.”

Highlighting the weakness of Meg Lanning and Amy Jones which she wanted to exploit, de Klerk said, “Knew they (Jones and Lanning) were susceptible to the ball coming in. Got a bit lucky with Meg's wicket, but that is how cricket works sometimes.”

She concluded by talking about her strategy in the death overs, adding, “Really sticking to my strengths. The short side is really short. Planning has been good. Trying to protect that short boundary (by bowling slow and wide) and bowling at the stumps (with the bigger boundary).”