With the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 well past the halfway stage, the playoff battle has started taking shape. After the match between Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday, Smriti Mandhana-led RCB became the first team to qualify for the playoffs.

 

Until now, in this tournament, RCB has been unbeatable, having won all their league matches in five attempts. RCB has shown their dominance in this tournament by proceeding to the next round very comfortably. With RCB riding strong momentum, they seem to be serious contenders for the title.

 

RCB has retained fairly consistent form, which is more than can be said for the other four teams still tussling it out for the remaining respective playoff spots.

 

Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz in Solid Positions

 

Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, are placed second on the points table. Despite having a fluctuating season with two wins from five games, they managed to stay on top with a fairly decent net run rate of +0.151. MI, if they win two of their remaining three matches, should be fairly safe for playoffs. Anything less than this, their qualification would be under serious consideration depending on their net run rate and results from other matches.

 

UP Warriorz seem to be peaking just at the right time. After notching three consecutive losses early in the season, they have recovered with two good wins. Their form is picking up in time; with key players regaining form, two more wins should get them comfortably there, and three would seal a spot.

 

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The Giants and Capitals Under Pressure

 

The Giants have fallen down badly after a propitious beginning to the tournament. The team was flying after winning its first two matches; unfortunately, they have now lost form and confidence in themselves. Placed fourth on the table with a poor net run rate of -0.864, GG need probably to win all their remaining matches to be alive and hope other results go their way.

 

The Capitals, under new captain Jemimah Rodrigues, have had a challenging season so far. With only one win from four matches and the gloss of having played one game fewer than the rest, they are still in with a shout. A run of three wins from four matches could still see them slip into the playoffs.

 

Every match matters for the next WPL 2026 playoffs as only a few league games are left in the calendar.