WPL 2026 | Match 5: RCB vs UPW | Preview and Predictions

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look to maintain their winning run as they face a UP Warriorz side coming off a close loss in Match 5 of the 2026 Women’s Premier League season.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.

Women’s Premier League 2026 | Match 5: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs UP Warriorz | 19:30 IST, 12 January 2026

The Royal Challengers kicked off their WPL 2026 campaign with a thrilling victory against the Mumbai Indians in the season-opener.

Nadine de Klerk was the star of the show for Smriti Mandhana’s side and took them home on the last ball of the game, finishing things off in style by getting the required 18 runs off the final over. The South African hard-hitter has time and again shown how crucial she is in such situations, and this innings once again cemented her reputation as one of the fiercest players in death overs.

However, there are issues that the 2024 WPL champions need to address. Pooja Vastrakar will miss at least two weeks of the season and will be dearly missed by the team. The batters will have to pick themselves up despite the victory, because after a strong start there was a middle-order collapse that almost took the game away from them. If not for de Klerk’s heroics later on, MI would have taken the win.

RCB’s fielding left a lot to be desired as well, especially the two dropped chances of Sajeevan Sajana, who made the most of those slip-ups and played a huge role in leading MI to a competitive total.

All in all, while RCB will be happy with the win to start things off, they’ll have to avoid repeating the mistakes against the UP Warriorz.

The new-look Warriorz, meanwhile, fell to a ten-run defeat against the Gujarat Giants in their campaign opener. Phoebe Litchfield showed why she is one of the stars of the future with her repertoire of shots. Her seemingly newfound power game, which saw her smash five sixes in a 78-run knock, formed the backbone of the UPW run chase.

While Litchfield was ably supported by the likes of Asha Sobhana and Shweta Sehrawat, the top and middle orders failed to offer any sort of support with the bat. The likes of Kiran Navgire, Harleen Deol, and Deepti Sharma all fell for single-digit scores, while skipper Meg Lanning looked to be struggling for fluency in her innings of 30.

Even the bowling was not really up to the mark, with everyone except Shikha Pandey and Sophie Ecclestone going above ten runs an over. Against an RCB side boasting a formidable amount of options with both bat and ball, the Warriorz will have to ensure that they are on top of their game right from the off if they want to stand a chance of getting a positive result.

While the UP Warriorz definitely have the quality and the wherewithal to produce a victory in this game, it is very hard to look past the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the win here. They have the positive momentum and look like the more well-rounded team, which makes them likely to make fewer mistakes than their opponents. 

Fantasy XI: Smriti Mandhana (c), Phoebe Litchfield, Meg Lanning, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Nadine de Klerk, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell, Shreyanka Patil, Linsey Smith, Shikha Pandey

Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai
Winners Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru