Mumbai [Maharashtra] January 10 : Mumbai Indians head coach Lisa Keightley rued the dropped catches and admitted that they had an under-par first-innings total after the loss in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
RCB's Nadine de Klerk was the star of the MI vs RCB WPL match as she grabbed a four-fer followed by a match-winning half-century, powering the Smriti Mandhana-led side to open their account with a win in the opening match of the tournament.
Chasing 155, de Klerk slammed 20 runs off the last over to get her side over the line and secure a win by three wickets over the defending champions.
However, what hurt the Mumbai-based franchise more was what transpired in the 19th over of the second innings, where Nadine de Klerk was dropped twice, first by Nat Sciver-Brunt and then by Amelia Kerr.
Speaking at the press conference after the match, Lisa Keightley said the team's performance was below par. She praised Lauren Bell, who claimed a wicket and delivered a brilliant spell of 1-14 in 4 overs. She said another 10 runs in the first innings could have made a difference, but it was the missed opportunities in the field in the last over that ultimately hurt their chances of winning.
"It was definitely under par, I think it looked quite hard early, and Lauren Bell bowled extremely well on those conditions. We put pressure on early. But to get to the score that we did was good, and if we got another 10 off the last over, it could have been a little bit different. But it was well under par to fight and stretch the game out, and to have that position to win the match. But the dropped catches really hurt us in the long run," the Mumbai Indians coach said in the post-match press conference.
Coming to the match, the RCB had won the toss and had opted to field first. After MI was reduced to 67/4, an 82-run stand between S Sajana (45 in 25 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Nicola Carey (40 in 29 balls, with four boundaries) took MI to 154/6, with Nadine (4/26) and Lauren Bell (1/14) bowling incredible four-over spells.
Chasing the total, RCB was off to a fine start and put a 40-run opening stand with Grace Harris (25 in 12 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and skipper Smriti Mandhana (18 in 13 balls, with four boundaries) firing on all cylinders. Spell from Amelia Kerr (2/13) played a crucial role in swinging the tide in MI's favour, reducing RCB to 65/5. But a 52-run stand between Nadine and Arundhati Reddy (20 in 25 balls, with two fours) kept RCB alive in the hunt. With 18 runs left in the final over, after two dot balls against Sciver-Brunt, Nadine nailed her for 6,4,6, and 4 to seal a memorable win, with Prema Rawat (8* in four balls with two fours) playing a little cameo.
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