Published: January 9, 2026 at 11:48 pm
Nadine de Klerk, who was picked up quite cheaply at the auction, proved her worth in gold as she steered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to an improbable three-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening encounter of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Friday night.
Nadine made Mumbai Indians pay for the mistake of dropping her when RCB needed 29 off 12 balls. The South African all-rounder was batting on 36 when she was dropped by Nat Sciver-Brunt off Shabnim Ismail. Then needing 18 off the last six balls, Nadine refused to take single of the first ball. Sciver-Brunt then denied Nadine a run of the next one. But Nadine was in no mood to give it all up so easily. She just smashed Sciver-Brunt for 6, 4, 6, 4 to finish the game in style.
“Nadine de Klerk’s signing by RCB is a bargain deal. It is a steal to get her for Rs 65 lakh. RCB is very lucky. There were not many takers for her by the time her name came up in the auction. But it will be scary for bowlers to see Richa Ghosh and Nadine de Klerk batting together in the death overs. It is going to be very nice and exciting,” former India captain Anjum Chopra had said ahead of the tournament.
Though Richa Ghosh fell cheaply, de Klerk proved Anjum right with a scintillating innings. Nadine, who had bagged four wickets in the Mumbai innings, came to bat when RCB were delicately placed at 63 for four. Two runs later, she lost Richa (6) but forged a solid partnership with Arundhati Reddy, who made it up for conceding 16 runs in her final over.
The duo added 52 off 51 balls to keep RCB in the hunt. Arundhati fell for 20 but Nadine ensured full points for her side as he remained unbeaten on a 44-ball 63 which was studded with seven fours and two sixes, both came in the final over. She added 36 for the eighth wicket with Prema Rawat (8no) off 18 balls. Nadine scored 28 of those.
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Grace Harris (25) and Smriti Mandhana (18) gave RCB a good start but once they fell, RCB lost their way till Nadine and Arundhati brought them back into the game.
“It is probably going to take a couple of days. If it is your day, you have to ensure you cash in. Glad to get the win,” said Player of the Match de Klerk.
On her bowling, she said: “Just about coming in and backing your skills and executing. She (Bell) bowled exceptional. Just sticking to my strengths, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it does not.”
On the chase, she said: “Probably a little frustrated at the beginning of my innings. Cricket is a funny game; you have to stay in the fight. On these grounds, on these batting wickets, you just need to cash in. Towards the back end, I was thinking of taking the bulk of the strike. Couple of important partnerships. Arundhati batted beautifully. A couple of boundaries (by Prema) were also very important.”
Nadine de Klerk bags four to peg MI
Nadine de Klerk finished with figures of four for 26 as Mumbai Indians were restricted to 154 for six
Earlier, Mumbai Indians did not have the kind of start they would have loved. Amelia Kerr and Gunalan Kamilini took five overs to get 21 on the board before Kerr (4) fell, caught by Arundathi Reddy of Lauren Bell. Nat Sciver-Brunt (4) was stumped by Richa Ghosh of a Nadine de Klerk delivery and Mumbai were 35 for two.
Kamilini and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur steadied the boat with a 28-run stand for the third wicket before Shreyanka Patil got through the defences of Kamilini, who made a 28-ball 32 while hitting five boundaries. Four runs later, de Klerk had Kaur (20) caught behind to put Mumbai in some trouble.
However, Nicola Carey and Sajeevan Sajana took the fight to the enemy camp, and they were aided by some sloppy fielding by the RCB fielders. The duo added 82 off 49 balls. Sajana contributed a 25-ball 45 and Nicola made 34 off 24. Both of them fell in the last over as Mumbai ended up with 154 for six.
Nicola made 40 off 29 balls with four boundaries and Sajana scored 45 off 25 balls with seven fours and a six. Both of them fell to de Klerk, who finished with figures of four for 26.
SCOREBOARD
Mumbai Indians: Amelia Kerr c Reddy b Bell 4, Gunalan Kamilini b Patil 32, Nat Sciver-Brunt st Ghosh b de Klerk 4, Harmanpreet Kaur c Ghosh b de Klerk 20, Nicola Carey c Hemlatha b de Klerk 40, Sajeevan Sajana c Mandhana b de Klerk 45, Amanjot Kaur (not out) 0, Poonam Khemnar (not out) 0; Extras: (LB1, W8) 9. Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 154.
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-35, 3-63, 4-67, 5-149, 6-154.
Bowling: Lauren Bell 4-1-14-1, Linsey Smith 2-0-23-0, Arundhati Reddy 4-0-37-0, Nadine de Klerk 4-0-26-4, Shreyanka Patil 4-0-32-1, Radha Yadav 2-0-21-0.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Grace Harris c Ismail b Nat Sciver-Brunt 25, Smriti Mandhana c Khemnar b Ismail 18, Dayalan Hemalatha lbw AB Kaur 7, Richa Ghosh c Carey b Kerr 6, Radha Yadav b Kerr 1, Nadine de Klerk (not out) 63, Arundathi Reddy c Kerr b Carey 20, Shreyanka Patil b Carey 1, Prema Rawat (not out) 8; Extras: (W3, B5) 8. Total: (For 7 wickets in 20 overs) 157.
Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-47, 3-62, 4-63, 5-65, 6-117, 7-121.
Bowling: Nat Sciver-Brunt 4-0-47-1, Shabnim Ismail 4-0-26-1, Nicola Carey 4-0-35-2, Amanjot Kaur 3-0-18-1, Amelia Kerr 4-0-13-2, Saika Ishaque 1-0-13-0.
