RCB demolish SRH in southern rivalry as batters make light work of big chase
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru started their IPL 2026 campaign with a banger of a win as they blew away the Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-octane run-fest. The first chapter of the southern rivalry was dictated by Jacob Duffy’s impeccable debut combined with extraordinary batting as RCB secured the bragging rights with four overs to spare.
Winning the toss, RCB opted to bowl first. Despite a decent start in the first two overs, debutant Jacob Duffy dealt a double whammy in his second over, claiming Abhishek Sharma (7) and Travis Head (11), halting SRH’s early scoring. To their woes, Duffy added another scalp to his tally, removing Nitish Kumar Reddy (1) as SRH wobbled at 29/3.
The visitors eventually gained momentum through their captain, Ishan Kishan who was deftly supported by the experienced Heinrich Klaasen. The two added 97 runs for the fourth wicket from just 53 balls. Kishan was obviously the aggressor-in-chief while Klaasen looked solid with his anchoring 31. Romario Shepherd finally got RCB the crucial breakthrough by dismissing Klaasen as Salt pulled off a balancing stunner on the fence.
Suyash Sharma put an early end to Salil Arora (9), reining RCB back in the game. Abhinandan Singh who bagged his RCB debut in the evening got his first IPL wicket as Phil Salt plucked an absolute blinder to quell Ishan Kishan’s phenomenal knock of 80 from just 38 balls. With the scorecard reading 155/6, SRH needed something special to post a fighting total as the track in Chinnaswamy started flattening out.
Aniket Verma (43) delivered that singular knock, propelling SRH to 201/9 after much to-and-fro at the other end. Duffy was the pick of the lot for RCB with figures of 3/22 while Romario Shepherd, despite going for runs, claimed three wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was economical with figures of 1/31 from his four overs.
Chasing down what was a monumental total, Phil Salt (8) started on his usual note. He struck two boundaries in the very first over and got RCB’s wheels in motion. Much to the shock of the RCB fans, the English opener got a wrong connection as Jaydev Unadkat’s slower one was more than enough to send him packing in the second over of the innings.
Virat Kohli was joined by Devdutt Padikkal, and the two had their task cut out. However, Padikkal continued his excellent run of form from the domestic circuit, taking the challenge head-on. The duo of Padikkal and Kohli added 101 runs from just 45 balls. Coming on as the impact player, Padikkal smoked 61 off just 26 balls. He hammered seven fours and four sixes, almost reshaping the chase for RCB into a cakewalk. Harsh Dubey managed to remove Padikkal but that did very little to dissuade RCB from their path of fireworks.
Kohli anchored the innings with excellent composure while an incoming Rajat Patidar started his knock in the same vein of belligerence, following in the footsteps of Padikkal. He hammered 31 off 11 balls, almost reducing the remainder of the chase to a formality.
By the time SRH could remove Patidar, RCB were cruising at 163/3 from 12 overs and were set for a monumental win. David Payne, who made his IPL debut for SRH, claimed two wickets on the trot, removing Patidar and Jitesh Sharma (0). Despite a few worries for the Royal Challengers, they remained in the balance as Tim David needed some time to settle down.
Kohli showed that restraint for a couple of overs, simply setting up a late detonation to blow away the Sunrisers. David and Kohli switched gears in no time, racking up the remainder of the runs with consummate ease. Kohli stayed unbeaten for 69 from just 38 balls. The King scored his 64th IPL half-century while David was not out for 16 off 10, securing RCB a staggering six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. Jacob Duffy won the Player of the Match for his excellent spell at the start.
