To win the match, win the toss, field first. This has been the story of all seven games in WPL 2025 so far. Mumbai Indians (MI) were the latest benefactors of winning the toss as they beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by four wickets in the first game of the Bengaluru leg. Bowling first, MI restricted RCB to 167 for 7 despite a pristine 81 off 43 balls by Ellyse Perry. After that, they had the season's second-best powerplay, going 66 for 2. Harmanpreet Kaur's half-century kept MI in a comfortable position until Georgia Wareham dismissed her and S Sajana off successive balls in the 18th over. Amanjot Kaur took over from there and, with 22 needed from 12 balls, hit Kanika Ahuja for two sixes. That brought it down to run-a-ball in the final over. Nevertheless, G Kamalini, a 16-year-old, smashed Ekta Bisht through covers to win the game, requiring two out of two balls. Ismail vs. Mandhana: A Short Story Shabnim Ismail is the fastest bowler in women's cricket and it showed immediately. Opening the bowling for MI, Ismail hurried Smriti Mandhana with a bouncer, the RCB captain's mistimed pull falling short of mid-on. However, Mandhana only needed one delivery to get used to the pitch's pace and bounce. When Ismail threw a second short ball two more times, Mandhana quickly got into position and pulled it over square leg for four. It made Ismail switch to around the wicket. She went short again for the final ball of the over, this time in an effort to cramp the batter. Mandhana unfurled another four with a pull. Nat Sciver-Brunt, who opened the bowling from the other end, does not have Ismail's pace. That allowed Mandhana to use her feet and launch a straight six. Ismail made a line error in her next over, and Mandhana cut her twice in three balls to the point boundary. However, Ismail came out on top. She angled the ball this time as she went short once more. By that time, Mandhana must have felt invincible. She attempted another pull. But this one took the top edge and Yastika Bhatia settled under it behind the stumps. Quick wickets leave RCB in trouble Perry opened her account with a first-ball four, flicking a full delivery from Ismail over square leg. She hit Sciver-Brunt over long-on after releasing her arms in the subsequent over. However, MI quickly recovered with three wickets. Raghvi Bist hit Hayley Matthews into the hands of deep midwicket, Danni Wyatt-Hodge mishit an uppercut against Sciver-Brunt, and Ahuja chopped Sanskriti Gupta onto her stumps. After nine overs, RCB were 62 for 4. Perry pristine From overs six to nine, RCB did not score a boundary. In the tenth, Perry ended the drought by defeating Matthews for four. Richa Ghosh, who hit a six in the same over, gave her support. In the subsequent three overs, the two hit five more fours together. By the time Amanjot bowled Ghosh for 28 off 25, the partnership had reached 50 in 38 deliveries. From there on, Perry carried RCB almost singlehandedly. She hit Amelia Kerr inside out over extra cover to bring her fifty off 30 balls. Two balls later, she jumped out of her crease to deposit Kerr over long-on. In the next over, Matthews paid the price for bowling too short as Perry picked up two more fours. Perry eventually fell to Amanjot on the penultimate ball of the innings but not before hitting the bowler for back-to-back fours. Matthews, Sciver-Brunt give MI flying start MI started their chase in an attacking manner, with Bhatia hitting Renuka Singh for two fours in the opening over. Even though Kim Garth trapped Bhatia for 8, there was no respite for RCB. Sciver-Brunt hit two fours off the first two balls she faced to keep the runs flowing. With three fours in Garth's subsequent over, she raised the stakes even higher. Matthews joined with back-to-back fours off Wareham. Also not spared was Bisht, who came in for the sixth over. Sciver-Brunt started with a hat-trick of fours and Matthews chipped in with one. Bisht's only consolation was Matthews' lbw with her last ball. Harmanpreet takes over Garth provided RCB with some relief when she castled Sciver-Brunt for 42 off 21 balls in the eighth over. Wareham bowled a maiden two overs later that also had Kerr slicing to backward point. After the tenth over, Harmanpreet was on 10 off 10 balls after a sluggish start. But she put the chase back on track with two fours off VJ Joshitha. MI needed 54 in the last six overs but Harmanpreet was well set by then. She hit Ahuja for successive fours, slog-swept Bisht into the stands, and picked up two more fours of Renuka to make MI firm favourites. Wareham's twin strikes are defeated by Amanjot's twin sixes. The match appeared to be almost over for RCB with Harmanpreet scoring 50 off 36 balls and needing 24 from three overs. However, Harmanpreet edged the ball to Ghosh in an effort to cut Wareham out. Sajana lasted just one ball, Wareham's slider trapping her lbw. Moreover, MI could score only two off that over. It was anyone's game at that point. But Amanjot, who had been playing second fiddle to Harmanpreet till then, stepped up. She was on 20 off 22 balls when her Punjab team-mate Ahuja started the 19th over. Amanjot went down the ground first ball and cleared long-on. Amanjot cleared long-on once more on the final ball, but Ahuja only gave up four in the next four balls. Not only did MI require just six in the final over, but RCB's slow over rate also meant there was one fielder fewer in the outfield. For the first two deliveries, Bisht did her best by darting the ball with the keeper behind her. However, Kamalini maintained her composure and guided her team to victory with one ball remaining.