However, if there were any remaining doubts about the inability of Smriti Mandhana to deliver in the finals, they were proved to be false. She proved it all by playing with flu and helping RCB win their second WPL title, as she struck 87 off 41 balls in their 204-run chase against Delhi Capitals in Vadodara. After RCB won their second WPL title, the RCB Head Coach, Malolan Rangarajan, placed the trophy by his side and recalled Mandhana's grit. Describing it as "massive...massive flu," he said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "She was seriously unwell with a high fever. But to turn up, not even show it, nobody in the team [knew]…for one second also didn't show it. That's the person Smriti is. When I spoke to her this afternoon, she said, 'Nahi, Malo, koi problem nahi (there's no problem), I'll be there.' So that's her with her work ethic." Also Read | "Enjoy the love," Virat Kohli pens warms wishes to RCB Women's team as love showed from legends Smriti's Performance in the Finals Even by Mandhana’s lofty standards, this was a sublime example of a chase under pressure -—Mandhana initially relegated her Australian opening partner to second place in their stand before switching gears in a hurry. She was only 6 short of reaching her target off just 5 balls after facing five overs. However, she launched a fierce counterattack. What was most noticeable about her innings was her way of deconstructing DC’s spin attack. As the only left-hander of RCB, she targeted Sree Charani’s left-arm spin, which was so successful during the Vadodara leg. The kind of zone Mandhana was in, where similar deliveries to different parts of the ground were sent packing, backing away to cut a short ball through point or calmly moving across to flick it between long-on and deep midwicket. Even the experienced Sneh Rana could not contain Mandhana's onslaught. RCB struck at least one boundary in every over; the backing-away loft over wide long-off off Rana was a statement shot. She finished the season with 377 runs, finishing as the leading run-scorer of WPL 2026. Rangarajan also said: "I think she saved one of her best innings for the final. The way she batted was….inhuman? I don't even know the word to use. So classy, so elegant…it didn't feel… when you looked at her, you could see that she was in control of what she wanted to do. She was timing the ball, she was hitting, picking the pockets in which she wanted to attack. She trained two days prior to the game, and we've been having a lot of chat about her batting, how she's feeling, and I reckon that her last training session [on Wednesday] was among the best she had batted." This turnaround in perspective came during the last league game, for which RCB were looking to bounce back from two successive losses. A playoff berth had been secured, but a top-of-the-table finish and a spot in the final were what they played for against UP Warriorz. Mandhana made an unbeaten 54 off 27 in a successful chase, an innings that stood out for blending her aggression with consistency in both shot selection and its execution. Read Also | WPL Winners List: Full Season-by-Season Champions History He said: "I know she would have loved to have finished the game [in the final as well], but what an innings. We've worked now for four years together. With Smriti, I think both of us know exactly what our roles are within the tournament. So it's very clear between us, good camaraderie, I'd say. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with her, and hopefully that continues for RCB for a while now." Offering a glimpse behind the scenes, Rangarajan said Mandhana is a “feels” player in every part of her game, from the way she taps the bat to how it comes down to how sweetly it finds the middle. Rangarajan also added: "She's a nerd when it comes to her batting. I guess that's why she's ended up achieving what she's achieved in life, always looking to improve, always looking to get better at her skill. Whenever she's batting, she's like, 'I'm going to try this, I'm going to try that.' A little wide-base, something or the other, Smriti always tries. And I think, luckily and fortunately for us, she cracked the code two days back [against UP Warriorz], and she was very, very comfortable. She led the team by example and set the standards in every training session. I'd be doing a disservice even if I tried saying how good Smriti has been in these last months." It would have been unfair to suggest after Thursday's knock that Mandhana failed to show up in the finals. She would have likely shrugged it off, as long as she could still sing “Ee sala kuda cup namdu” at the end of it all.