"It was brilliant to watch," Mandhana, who was out for 9 in the second over of the chase, said after the game. "They [Ahuja and Ghosh] have been doing that in the nets in the last seven to eight days to all our bowlers. So, really happy that things clicked on. But yeah, I think after the first innings we knew with the dew coming, it was going to be tough to bowl. So we always thought that we were in the game.

"The way Richa batted and Pez [Perry] batted was amazing to watch."

Ghosh took her time initially - she scored just 15 off her first 12 balls. A lot of match simulation before the tournament helped her deal with the high-pressure situation, she said later.

"The plan was to take some time, and see how the pitch is reacting," Ghosh said. "I wanted to take it deep, and I focused on my game. We [Ahuja and I] thought we could get to the total, and that we would play a positive game.

"The preparation we did with sir [head coach Luke Williams] really helped us. We had a lot of match situation during practice matches. We kept targets that if the situation is so and so then what should we be doing. That helped me a lot."

"Yes, the boundaries were uneven, but I didn't have that in mind. I knew I could clear [the boundaries] so I was just reacting as the ball came."

"I'm really happy as I'm playing after a year. All the visualisations and the rehab that I did seemed to have helped me mentally. I tried to become a better player."

Ahuja, who missed the last edition due to injury, was elated. In addition to her match-turning knock, she had returned 1 for 19 from three overs with her offspin.

"It feels great. I'm really happy as I'm playing after a year," Ahuja said. "All the visualisations and the rehab that I did seemed to have helped me mentally. I tried to become a better player.

"I thought I'll go for whatever is in my reach. We were looking at a [required] run rate of 10 or 12 runs an over, and that worked out. Thankfully, we won."

RCB had lost key players like Sophie Devine (unavailable), Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana and Sophie Molineux (all injured) ahead of the season, so they had to dig deep into their squad here. This resulted in three debutants: Prema Rawat, VJ Joshitha and Raghvi Bist. The inexperience in the bowling unit showed, and sloppiness in the field did not help. Mandhana backed her young players but said there remained "a lot of things to work on" if they are to defend their title.

"[But] I think definitely a lot of things to work on as a bowling unit and fielding unit. And we have two days off before the next match, so we'll have good discussions around it."