With 18 needed off 6 balls, allrounder Nadine de Klerk, who was brilliant for South Africa lower down the order at the recent World Cup, pulled off a stunning heist for RCB on WPL’s opening night.
The last time Nadine de Klerk batted at the DY Patil Stadium, she hit a lofted cover drive into the hands of Harmanpreet Kaur, who caught the ball and ran across the outfield, with India winning the World Cup. On Friday night, at the very venue of that heartbreak but batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, she pulled off an incredible heist against Harmanpreet’s Mumbai Indians. Her 44-ball 63, with seven fours and two sixes, took RCB home from what seemed a near-impossible scenario. Her 4/26 with the ball meant there was little doubt who headlined the match.
At the start of the 19th over, RCB needed 29 off 12 balls and it was De Klerk or bust. She hit the first ball from Shabnim Ismail straight to long off where the ever-reliable Nat Sciver-Brunt put down an absolute sitter. Off the fourth ball, de Klerk sent one into the night sky and Amelia Kerr had plenty of time to get around it from deep midwicket. But she spilled it. There was more to come, though, as Amanjot Kaur fired in a throw with de Klerk trying to steal a second and well short of the crease. But wicketkeeper G Kamalini failed to collect the ball cleanly.
A #TATAWPL classic in the season opener! 🔥
And we have just begun 😎
What a finish that from Nadine de Klerk! 🤯
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That’s all the luck she needed. With 18 needed in the last over, Sciver-Brunt resorted to bowl cutters on a pitch that was holding up. After two dot balls – as she rightly refused to run – De Klerk swung for the fences. A six over long off, a four through square leg, a six over midwicket and finally, a four down the ground.
“We saw what she did in Vizag, where she pulled it off against us,” Smriti Mandhana recalled with a chuckle after the match. “Just needed one good ball in the last over,” rued Harmanpreet.
Sajana rides her luck
Sajana Sajeevan is no stranger to making second chances count. Hailing from Wayanad in Kerala, the allrounder’s family wasn’t financially constrained, and during the 2018 floods, she lost her cricket equipment among other belongings. The WPL gave her not just a platform to show her quality but also the financial security to help her parents. On Friday, when RCB’s fielders offered her not one but two reprieves, she made her way. Walking into bat when MI were 67/4 and had just lost Harmanpreet’s wicket, Sajana was dropped on two. D Hemalatha put down a simple one at midwicket off Radha Yadav. In the next over, Sayali Sathgare – replacing Hemalatha on the field – dropped an even simpler chance off Arundhati Reddy’s bowling at mid off.
Punishment came quickly for RCB, as Sajana smashed a six – similar to the last-ball match-winning hit in 2024 that catapulted her to the headlines – and a four off Radha’s next over. She followed that up with two fours in Arundhati’s next over. Sajana went on to finish the night with a superb 45 off 25 balls, her highest score in the league yet.
Kerr’s wild night
When the night began, Kerr couldn’t put the bat to the ball. Lauren Bell was shaping it away from her. In the first over, she missed five of the six deliveries, the ball going past her outside edge repeatedly. It didn’t get better at the start of the third over either, with the bat and ball continuing to maintain social distancing. She got off the mark off the 11th delivery and the almighty struggle ended on 4 off 15 balls when she tried to take Bell down the ground, miscuing the release shot.
𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲! 🔥
2025 Purple Cap winner Amelia Kerr weaves her magic in her very first over 🪄
P.S. – Don’t miss Nicola Carey’s superb catch 🫴
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— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 9, 2026
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But all-rounders of Kerr’s quality can always deliver with the other facet of theirs. One of the best spinners in the game, just for the sheer quality of her googly, Kerr came into the attack and struck twice in her first over. Bowling the 8th over, she started her spell with the special weapon of hers. The perfect googly to Radha sneaked through the gap between bat and ball. Then came the big one. She floated one outside off to tempt Richa Ghosh into a big shot. The lofted off drive was caught sharply by Carey at wide long off. Kerr could have had a third but ball-tracking saved Arundhati after she was given out LBW. The New Zealand superstar finished with figures of 2/13 in her four overs. But the catch she dropped in the penultimate over to reprieve de Klerk proved to be even more decisive.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 157 for 7 (de Klerk 63*, Kerr 2-35) beat Mumbai Indians 154 for 6 (Sajana 45, Carey 40, de Klerk 4-26) by three wickets
