Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) commenced their Indian Premier League title campaign with an impressive performance, overwhelming Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2026 season opener held in Bengaluru on Saturday. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar secured the toss and elected to field first, with newcomer Jacob Duffy making an immediate impact by claiming three wickets during the powerplay, notably dismissing both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head within a single over. SRH’s temporary captain Ishan Kishan produced a magnificent 80 runs from 38 deliveries, and alongside Aniket Verma’s explosive 18-ball 43-run contribution, facilitated their team’s recovery from a precarious 29/3 position to reach 201/9 across their allocated 20 overs. RCB executed their chase with remarkable efficiency, surpassing the 202-run target in merely 15.4 overs. Devdutt Padikkal achieved a brilliant 21-ball half-century before concluding his innings at 61 from 26 deliveries, while Patidar contributed a rapid 31 from 12 balls. Virat Kohli remained at the crease until completion, finishing undefeated on 69 from 38 deliveries. RCB Started Their Campaign With Record breaking Chase .
TOSS
Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured the toss and elected to field first.
PLAYING XI
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):
Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI):
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Duffy demonstrated that Josh Hazlewood’s absence would not be a concern for the team. Sunrisers found themselves struggling at 29 for 3 after being invited to bat, as Duffy systematically dismantled their batting order. He eliminated both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head within the same over while also terminating Nitish Kumar Reddy’s innings prematurely. The bouncer delivery proved exceptionally effective for the New Zealand bowler, who completed his spell by the seventh over with impressive figures of 3 for 22, including 13 dot deliveries. His exceptional performance significantly limited SRH’s potential to achieve the explosive start that might have added an additional 40-50 runs to their final total.
The team’s recovery was orchestrated through stand-in captain Ishan Kishan’s explosive 38-ball 80, his crucial 97-run partnership with Heinrich Klaasen, and an inspiring cameo performance from Aniket Verma, who accumulated 43 runs from merely 18 deliveries. Kishan targeted the RCB spin attack effectively, dispatching two sixes against Krunal Pandya and four boundaries against Suyash Sharma. Debutant Abhinandan Singh faced the most punishment, conceding 30 runs, though he ultimately succeeded in dismissing Kishan.
Phil Salt’s exceptional fielding proved instrumental throughout the innings. He initially secured a routine catch at deep backward square leg to eliminate Head, subsequently following with a tumbling effort near the deep midwicket boundary that required third-umpire verification to remove Klaasen, who appeared skeptical of the decision. The highlight, however, was a spectacular one-handed catch near the point boundary that dismissed the threatening Kishan, a grab reminiscent of AB de Villiers’ acrobatic excellence.
SRH stood at 155 for 6 after 16 overs when Kishan departed, yet Aniket maintained the scoring momentum despite wickets falling consistently at the opposite end. His defining moment occurred against Romario Shepherd, from whom he extracted 24 runs, including three maximums, before ultimately falling to the same bowler.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU
While Phil Salt failed to translate his fielding excellence into batting success, RCB possessed sufficient batting depth as Padikkal initiated an immediate offensive. By the powerplay’s conclusion, RCB had advanced to 76 for 1, with Padikkal contributing 46 runs from 17 deliveries.
He completed a 21-ball half-century, recording the second-fastest fifty for RCB against SRH, as the team reached 100 runs in just 8.1 overs. A century partnership materialized, with Padikkal consistently locating boundaries before succumbing to Harsh Dubey. The momentum remained decisively with RCB, who stood at 126 for 2 after 10 overs.
Kohli contributed 30 runs from 19 deliveries in a 101-run partnership with Padikkal and benefited from a dropped opportunity by Klaasen. During Kohli’s 53-run association with Rajat Patidar, the RCB captain assumed the attacking responsibilities. Subsequently, in a 40-run partnership with Tim David, Kohli applied the finishing touches to the chase, with the experienced batsman concluding his innings with five boundaries and an equal number of sixes, maintaining a strike rate of 181.58 in a characteristic Kohli performance.
BRIEF SCORECARD
SRH 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80 (38), Aniket Verma 43 (18); Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) lost to RCB 203/4 in 15.4 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 61 (26), Virat Kohli 69* (38); David Payne 2-35) by 6 wickets.
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