Smriti Mandhana once again was at the forefront of RCB's chase, delivering a captain’s knock for the ages in the Women’s Premier League final against Delhi Capitals on Thursday in Vadodara. Mandhana struck a brilliant 87 to guide RCB to their second WPL title in just three seasons, overhauling a memorable chase.

Delhi had earlier set a massive total of 203/4, the highest total ever posted in a WPL final. Meanwhile, RCB were put under pressure early on with the dismissal of Grace Harris. However, Mandhana made the chase look controlled and assured, producing a remarkable performance. What made her effort even more impressive was the revelation after the match by head coach Malolan Rangarajan that the RCB skipper had been battling flu in the lead-up to the final.

"Smriti played this game with massive, massive flu. She was seriously unwell with a high fever. But to turn up, not even show it, nobody in the team. 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," Malolan Rangarajan said at the press conference.

A crucial pillar of RCB’s successful chase was the monumental 165-run partnership Mandhana shared with Georgia Voll. Voll played the perfect supporting role, matching Mandhana’s intent and confidence, scoring a brilliant 79. The head coach further highlighted the elegance with which Mandhana crafted her knock.

"I think she saved one of her best innings for the final. She has been in very good form the last 12 months or so. The way she batted today 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 was among the best she had batted," he said.