Barcelona won its seventh straight women’s Spanish league title with a 4-1 victory over Espanyol.

The win gave Barcelona an insurmountable 16-point lead over second-place Real Madrid. It is the 11th league title for the Catalan club.

The players and venue would be different but India would be hoping to repeat its result from the last year when the team takes on Thailand in its opening tie of the Billie Jean King Cup at the DLTA Stadium on Tuesday.

The six-team Asia/Oceania Group I competition, to be played in a single round-robin format, will be the second straight year India is hosting the event. India, which finished second behind New Zealand in Pune in 2025 to advance to the playoffs, will be hoping to do so again.

It won’t be easy, however, with Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, who went unbeaten in all her five matches last year and was awarded the BJK Heart award for her performances, out with injury.

New Zealand, Thailand and Korea have returned this year along with Mongolia and Indonesia with the latter expected to be a tough opponent and the former an unknown quantity the team captain and former Davis Cupper Vishal Uppal is wary of.

While Shrivalli pulled out with a back spasm, reserve player Vaidehee Chaudhari injured her ankle during training on Thursday but Uppal insisted there was enough depth in the team without revealing his team combinations.

Zeel Desai has been called up as a replacement, the 27-year-old withdrawing from the semifinals of the $15000 ITF event in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to join the side at the last minute.

Top-ranked Indian Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalappalli, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale complete the side with the last two, the most experienced, expected to shoulder the doubles challenge while leaving the singles to the youngsters.

“I’m happy having a problem picking players for a tie than one where I don’t have players, that’s a good problem to have, it tells you there’s depth,” Uppal said on the eve of the competition.

India’s biggest challenge will be from Indonesia, led by the highest-ranked player in the field, World No. 41 Janice Tjen, and doubles specialist Aldila Sutjiadi. New Zealand, also remains a threat with doubles specialist Erin Routliffe in its ranks despite the absence of Lulu Sun.

Tuesday’s matches (3 p.m. onwards): India vs. Thailand (centre court), New Zealand vs. Indonesia (court 1), Mongolia vs. Korea (court 2).

India will need its batting big guns to fire collectively against an experienced Australian bowling group in the third and final women’s T20 International to seal a historic maiden series triumph Down Under, in Adelaide on Saturday (February 21, 2026).

Despite registering a few victories in the past, the Indian women are yet to score a bilateral series win in Australia across all three formats.

To change that script, India needs a better batting effort here and it starts from openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

Both Smriti and Shafali got starts but failed to kick on, impeding India’s relatively easy-looking chase of 164 in the second match.

The veteran Aussie trio of Kim Garth, Annabel Sutherland and Sophie Molineux exploited that opening, getting rid of five Indian batters for a mere seven runs to wreck the chase.

But the Adelaide pitch offers a lot more trueness than the surface at Canberra, and the Indian batters should be able to trust their pick-up shots here.

An excellent outfield also adds value to the drive here. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh love the ball coming on to the bat, and they can expect some assistance here.

Onus on Indian pacers

However, the smooth nature of the ground also puts an onus on Indian pacers — Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud and Amanjot Kaur — to be steady in their lines, as the Aussie batters can quite ruthlessly exploit any slack.

In that context, no one is a bigger threat than the young and prolific Georgia Voll, who has seamlessly taken over the opening role from the now-retired Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy.

Those are massive shoes to fill, but the 22-year-old has been nothing less than remarkable so far.

The Indian pacers will have to stop Voll in her tracks, and the spinners — Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani — too need to chip in during the middle overs.

It is mandatory to keep the range-hitters Sutherland and Ash Gardner and the innovative Phoebe Litchfield quiet post the PowerPlay segment.

The teams (from): Australia: Sophie Molineux (Capt.), Tahlia McGrath, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Capt.), Smriti Mandhana, Bharti Fulmali, Kranti Gaud, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.

Match starts at 1.45 p.m. IST.

Harmanpreet Kaur became the highest-capped player in women’s international ​cricket when she made her 356th ‌appearance for India in Thursday’s (February 19, 2026) Twenty20 ​match against Australia, surpassing ⁠New Zealand great Suzie Bates.

Indian captain Kaur, 36, has now played six tests, ‌161 One-Day Internationals and 189 T20 matches for her ‌country since 2009. Bates, two ‌years ⁠her elder, has not played ⁠for New Zealand since making her 355th international appearance in October during the ODI ​World Cup.

Kaur’s compatriot ‌Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most international appearances in men’s cricket, having represented India ‌664 times across formats. Kaur ​has scored eight centuries and 38 fifties for India, and ⁠led the country to their first Women’s World Cup title on home ‌soil in November.

“Harman has been a special player for India. I want to congratulate her for the massive achievement of being the highest-capped women’s player in the ‌history of the game,” India’s head coach ​Amol Muzumdar told reporters.

Kaur was India’s highest scorer with ⁠a knock of 36 as India lost ⁠to Australia by 19 runs in Griffith on Thursday, levelling ‌the three-match T20 series, with the decider set for Saturday (February 21, 2026).

Skipper Radha Yadav led a dominant spin display before Dinesh Vrinda hammered a blazing half-century as India A Women cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Pakistan A Women in the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars in Bangkok on Sunday (February 15, 2026).

The victory marked India A’s first win of the tournament after its seven-wicket defeat to the United Arab Emirates A Women in the opener on Friday (February 13, 2026).

The win lifted India A to second place in Group A behind the UAE.

India’s spinners choked Pakistan with relentless accuracy, sharing five wickets between them to bundle out their rivals for a modest 93 in 18.5 overs.

Radha (2/11 in 3 overs) spearheaded the charge with two crucial strikes, while Prema Rawat (2/16 in 3 overs) and Minnu Mani (1/10 in 2.5 overs) ensured Pakistan never built any meaningful partnerships.

Pacer Saima Thakor bowled exceptionally, picking two wickets while giving away just 14 runs in her four overs.

Chasing a modest target of 94, India suffered an early jolt when Humaira Kazi fell off the very first ball, but Vrinda quickly turned the contest on its head with a stunning counterattack.

She smashed an unbeaten 55 off just 29 deliveries, peppering the boundary 12 times to take the game away from Pakistan.

Vrinda found solid support in Anushka Sharma, who compiled a composed 24 off 26 balls. The duo stitched together a match-defining 78-run stand that put India firmly in control of the chase.

After Anushka’s dismissal, Tejal Hasabnis provided the finishing touches with a brisk 12 off five balls as India romped home in just 10.1 overs with 59 balls to spare.

After two straight defeats in the Women’s Premier League, Royal Challengers Bengaluru was back to its very best on Thursday (January 29, 2026). That was largely down to Grace Harris and Nadine de Klerk, who played starring roles to help the Smriti Mandhana-led outfit rout U.P. Warriorz by eight wickets at the Kotambi Stadium.

The victory means RCB, with 12 points after eight matches, has topped the league phase and qualified for the final on February 5. Barring a mathematical miracle, Warriorz will be headed for the exit door after the final league fixture against Delhi Capitals on Sunday (February 1).

While de Klerk set up the win with a four-for to restrict Warriorz to 143 for eight, Harris’ pyrotechnics – 75 off 37 balls (13×4, 2×6) — helped the 2024 champion knock off the modest target in 13.1 overs. Smriti played her part with an unbeaten 54.

Harris made her intentions clear in the PowerPlay. She took a liking to Kranti Gaud, punishing the 22-year-old seamer for five fours in the third over with a gleeful grin. By the time Warriorz could take a strategic timeout, Harris had contributed 49 to RCB’s score of 63 for no loss in six overs. Harris’ half-century came off 28 deliveries in the seventh over. The landmark was reached with a touch of flamboyance as Harris sent Asha Sobhana’s flighted delivery sailing over long-on.

When Warriorz batted first, they simply couldn’t build on an opening alliance of 74 between Deepti Sharma (55, 43b, 6×4, 1×6) and Meg Lanning (41, 30b, 6×4, 1×6). Until de Klerk removed Lanning for the breakthrough in the ninth over, Warriorz seemed to be progressing serenely. The Australian gave herself room to hit a full ball inside-out, but could only slice it to Radha Yadav at deep point.

De Klerk’s golden arm yielded a second wicket four deliveries later when Amy Jones was trapped leg-before. That the South African took two more wickets and conceded just six runs in the final over of the Warriorz innings was emblematic of how the evening panned out.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Smriti Mandhana praised the team’s bowling unit after a dominant win against Delhi Capitals in the 11th match of the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 season on Saturday (January 17, 2026).

DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues, on the other hand, praised Shafali Verma’s batting but admitted the team’s bowling needs to improve.

Chasing 167, Smriti Mandhana (96 off 61 balls, including 13 fours and three sixes), along with Georgia Voll (54* runs off 42 balls, including five fours and two sixes), were the standout performers with the bat for the Bengaluru-based franchise.

On the bowling front, Lauren Bell (3-26 in four overs) and Sayali Satghare (3-27 in three overs), along with Prema Rawat (2-16 in three overs), were the standout performers.

After winning the Player of the Match award for her 96-run innings, Mandhana praised the bowling unit for executing their plans brilliantly, especially in the opening overs.

“It was amazing to see everyone bowling well, especially in the first three overs. Sayali and Bell doing what they do best. I feel everyone executed the plans well. Anya has been on it, she is an experienced player and she knows having done it. We wanted to get Shafali off the strike and everyone just bowled extremely well in that phase,” Mandhana said at the post-match presentations.

Mandhana said chasing made batting easier, as it helped her decide which bowlers to attack and defend against.

Mandhana also noted that bringing Georgia Voll in at No. 3 strengthened the batting line-up, making the team more balanced.

“It was good. Chasing a total is a lot easier than setting up as you never knew what is a good total. When we lost Grace, I knew which bowlers to take on and which bowler to defend. Good it worked. We thought we were one batter short in the last three games, and Voll coming in at No. 3 fits in well,” Mandhana added further.

Delhi Capitals’ captain Jemimah Rodrigues praised Shafali’s aggressive batting that lifted the team from 10/4 to 166/10 in the end. However, she also added that the team needs to improve its bowling and will return with a fearless, all-out approach.

Jemimah Rodrigues said, “From 10 for 4 how Shifu [Shafali] batted was great and I was so happy with the way she kept the intent on. And also Lucy in her debut game. I knew she could bat but I have never seen her bat. It was crazy. She was so calm under pressure. She ended up taking our team to a fighting score. [On not bowling Kapp earlier] There are always those moments. Maybe I could have got Kapp back early. But Nandani also bowled well. We have to work on our bowling and come back stronger. We have nothing to lose and will go all out.”

Chasing 167, RCB were rocked early as they lost opener Grace Harris (1) early in the innings, whose wicket was claimed by DC’s Marizanne Kapp.

However, a 142-run partnership off 91 balls not only brought RCB back into the game, but it also made sure the team remained unbeaten in the WPL 2026.

While DC did manage to get rid of Mandhana in the final stages of the match, Voll remained unbeaten and took RCB over the line with a boundary, with 10 balls remaining.

For DC, only Marizanne Kapp (1-21 in four overs) and Nandini Sharma (1-34 in four overs) were the wicket-takers in the match.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals were bundled out for 166 in 20 overs. After being reduced to 10/4, the Capitals slumped to 74/6 at one stage after they lost wicketkeeper-batter Lizelle Lee (4), Laura Wolvaardt (0), captain Jemimah Rodrigues (4), Marizanne Kapp (0), Niki Prasad (12), and Minnu Mani (5).

Opener Shafali Verma played a superb knock of 62 runs off 41 deliveries, including five fours and four sixes. She was supported by Sneh Rana (22) and Lucy Hamilton (36) as they rescued Delhi to 166.

By the time the spectators could settle in at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Saturday (January 17, 2026) evening, Delhi Capitals was four wickets down with just 10 runs on the board. An eerie silence descended on the dugout, with the team struggling to come to terms with the early setback.

But Shafali Verma wasn’t the one to press the panic button. She counterattacked with a 41-ball 62 (5×4, 4×6) as Capitals recovered and put up 166. But in the end, her efforts went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on captain Smriti Mandhana’s 61-ball 96 (13×4, 3×6) to pull off an eight-wicket win and end the first phase of the Women’s Premier League unbeaten.

RCB chased down Capitals’ 166 without breaking a sweat. Despite losing Grace Harris early on, Smriti forged a 142-run partnership off 91 balls for the second wicket with Georgia Voll (54 n.o., 42b, 5×4, 2×6). Throughout her innings, Smriti seemed to be in no hurry as she played by the merit of the ball, before missing out on a first-ever century in the tournament by just four runs. But Voll and Richa Ghosh took RCB home with 10 balls to spare.

The Bengaluru outfit notched up its fourth successive win while the bottom-placed Delhi side suffered its third loss in four games.

Before Smriti stole the show, Shafali entertained the crowd. Lauren Bell and Sayali Satghare made the new ball count and triggered Capitals’ collapse in the first couple of overs. But Shafali produced a blistering riposte, with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Shafali knew that it was important to forge partnerships and she did stitch a few — a 59-run stand with Niki Prasad for the fifth wicket was followed by a couple of smaller ones with Sneh Rana and Lucy Hamilton for the seventh and eighth wickets. With India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar in attendance, Shafali not only brought smiles to the Capitals camp, but also proved her mettle by coming up with one of her grittiest innings.

Shafali and Hamilton, making her debut in the tournament, ensured that Capitals reached a respectable total.

After Bell brought an end to Shafali’s innings, Hamilton hammered Shreyanka Patil for a couple of sixes and a four.

But in the end, the efforts proved futile.