Kohli & Padikkal Shine as RCB Rout SRH in Thrilling IPL 2026 Opening Clash
Bengaluru, 29 March (Sports Desk)
Match Summary
- Teams: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
- Date: Saturday, March 28, 2026
- Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
- Format: T20
- Result: Royal Challengers Bengaluru won by 6 wickets (with 26 balls remaining)
- Toss: RCB won the toss and elected to bowl first
- Player of the Match: Jacob Duffy (RCB) – 3/22
Scorecard
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 201/9 (20 overs)
- Ishan Kishan – 80 (38 balls)
- Aniket Verma – 43 (18 balls)
- Bowling (RCB): Jacob Duffy 3/22, Romario Shepherd 3/54, Suyash Sharma 1/28
Royal Challengers Bengaluru – 203/4 (15.4 overs)
- Virat Kohli – 69* (38 balls)
- Devdutt Padikkal – 61 (26 balls)
- Rajat Patidar – 31 (12 balls)
- Bowling (SRH): Harshal Patel 0/39 (notable economy), Jaydev Unadkat took the early wicket of Phil Salt
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Key Highlights:
- RCB defended their IPL 2025 title in style with a dominant chase.
- Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli formed a crucial 101-run partnership in just 45 balls.
- Ishan Kishan (SRH captain) played a fiery knock but SRH couldn’t post a defendable total on a batting-friendly Chinnaswamy pitch.
- Jacob Duffy’s impressive debut spell restricted SRH in the middle overs.
Match Context
This was the opening match of IPL 2026. RCB, as defending champions, started their campaign strongly against a strong SRH side. The high-scoring game lived up to the expectations of Chinnaswamy’s reputation for big totals and entertaining cricket.
Both teams are in the same group for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup later in 2026, but this men’s clash was all about RCB’s explosive batting and effective bowling attack.
