IPL 2026: RCB Crush SRH By 6 Wickets in High-Scoring Thriller to Kick off the Season. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru began IPL 2026 with a strong win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. The match took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. SRH batted first after losing the toss and posted 201/9 in 20 overs. Their run rate was 10.05 runs per over.
They were 49/1 after the powerplay in 6 overs. They reached 100 in 11.3 overs with steady scoring. SRH added 71 runs in the last 5 overs. Ishan Kishan led the batting with 80 runs. Aniket Verma added 43 runs in the middle order. RCB bowlers picked wickets but conceded runs regularly. Jacob Duffy took 3 wickets for 22 runs. Chasing 202, RCB needed 10.10 runs per over. They started fast and scored 76/1 in the powerplay.
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Devdutt Padikkal scored 61 off 26 balls. His strike rate was 234.61 with 8 fours and 3 sixes. Virat Kohli scored 69 off 38 balls. His strike rate was 162.06 with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The opening partnership added 102 runs in 9.1 overs. RCB reached 100 runs in just 8.5 overs. They scored 120 runs in the first 10 overs. Their run rate stayed above 12 during the chase. RCB finished at 203/4 in 15.4 overs. Their run rate was 12.96 runs per over. They hit 17 fours and 12 sixes in the chase. RCB won the match by 6 wickets with 26 balls remaining.
Key Highlights
SRH: 201/9 (20 overs), RR: 10.05
RCB: 203/4 (15.4 overs), RR: 12.96
Result: RCB won by 6 wickets.
Padikkal: 61 (26), SR: 234.61
Kohli: 69 (38), SR: 162.06
Ishan Kishan: 80 runs
RCB showed strong intent with a high-scoring chase. They dominated power play and middle overs. SRH batting was strong but bowling lacked control. They conceded nearly 13 runs per over in the chase. RCB have started their title defence in perfect fashion.
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Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga