Bengaluru, March 28. The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), launched their title defense in style with a commanding six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the opening game of IPL 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing 202, RCB made light of the target, finishing the innings in just 15.4 overs, thanks to fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. Kohli, playing his first T20 game in ten months, remained unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls, with five fours and as many sixes, to achieve his 64th IPL fifty and thrill the Chinnaswamy crowd.
Padikkal, meanwhile, was elegant in his timing and stroke-play, scoring 61 off 26 balls with seven fours and four sixes, setting the tone for a quick finish, wrapping up the chase with 26 balls to spare.
At the halfway stage, SRH's 201/9 looked competitive, but the manner in which Kohli and Padikkal, along with captain Rajat Patidar's 31 off 12 balls, dismantled a weak bowling attack suggested that even 250 would not have been enough.
Veteran left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat struck in his very first over to give Sunrisers Hyderabad an early breakthrough, dismissing Phil Salt with a length ball that stopped on the batter and popped up to mid-off, narrowly avoiding a collision with his fellow fielder.
In the same over, Padikkal got going by flicking over deep square leg for six, while Kohli got off the mark with a slice over mid-off. Padikkal continued his impressive form, reaching 28 off 10 balls. He welcomed David Payne to the IPL with a six over cover-point, before whipping him for a four and six, as RCB reached 51 runs in just four overs.
Kohli soon joined the assault, countering Unadkat's cutter with pace and flat-batting him through cover after having hit him for six. With Padikkal adding two more boundaries, RCB dominated the powerplay, accumulating 73 runs for the loss of Salt.
Kohli then produced a trademark stroke against Eshan Malinga, lofting a length ball straight over the bowler's head to bring the Chinnaswamy crowd to its feet. He was given a reprieve on 28 when Heinrich Klaasen missed a chance at long-on.
Padikkal continued his charge, reaching a half-century in 21 balls – his fastest in the IPL – before falling for 61, caught at long-off against Dubey. Kohli, meanwhile, showcased his wrist power with a whip over square leg off Harshal Patel and launching Dubey down the ground for another maximum.
Rajat Patidar joined the boundary-hitting party with a crisp four through backward point and a six over long-on off Patel and Dubey. With Malinga missing his lengths, Patidar easily thumped him for a four and two sixes, resulting in 22 runs off the 12th over.
Though Patidar and Jitesh Sharma fell in consecutive deliveries to Payne, Kohli marched forward to bring up his fifty in 33 balls, before Tim David got two quick boundaries. Kohli then lofted, pulled, and carved Patel for a six and two fours before finishing off the chase with an upper-cut through third man to complete an emphatic victory.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 203/4 in 15.4 overs (Virat Kohli 69 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 61; David Payne 2-35, Jaydev Unadkat 1-29) by six wickets
Chasing 202, RCB made light of the target, finishing the innings in just 15.4 overs, thanks to fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. Kohli, playing his first T20 game in ten months, remained unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls, with five fours and as many sixes, to achieve his 64th IPL fifty and thrill the Chinnaswamy crowd.
Padikkal, meanwhile, was elegant in his timing and stroke-play, scoring 61 off 26 balls with seven fours and four sixes, setting the tone for a quick finish, wrapping up the chase with 26 balls to spare.
At the halfway stage, SRH's 201/9 looked competitive, but the manner in which Kohli and Padikkal, along with captain Rajat Patidar's 31 off 12 balls, dismantled a weak bowling attack suggested that even 250 would not have been enough.
Veteran left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat struck in his very first over to give Sunrisers Hyderabad an early breakthrough, dismissing Phil Salt with a length ball that stopped on the batter and popped up to mid-off, narrowly avoiding a collision with his fellow fielder.
In the same over, Padikkal got going by flicking over deep square leg for six, while Kohli got off the mark with a slice over mid-off. Padikkal continued his impressive form, reaching 28 off 10 balls. He welcomed David Payne to the IPL with a six over cover-point, before whipping him for a four and six, as RCB reached 51 runs in just four overs.
Kohli soon joined the assault, countering Unadkat's cutter with pace and flat-batting him through cover after having hit him for six. With Padikkal adding two more boundaries, RCB dominated the powerplay, accumulating 73 runs for the loss of Salt.
Kohli then produced a trademark stroke against Eshan Malinga, lofting a length ball straight over the bowler's head to bring the Chinnaswamy crowd to its feet. He was given a reprieve on 28 when Heinrich Klaasen missed a chance at long-on.
Padikkal continued his charge, reaching a half-century in 21 balls – his fastest in the IPL – before falling for 61, caught at long-off against Dubey. Kohli, meanwhile, showcased his wrist power with a whip over square leg off Harshal Patel and launching Dubey down the ground for another maximum.
Rajat Patidar joined the boundary-hitting party with a crisp four through backward point and a six over long-on off Patel and Dubey. With Malinga missing his lengths, Patidar easily thumped him for a four and two sixes, resulting in 22 runs off the 12th over.
Though Patidar and Jitesh Sharma fell in consecutive deliveries to Payne, Kohli marched forward to bring up his fifty in 33 balls, before Tim David got two quick boundaries. Kohli then lofted, pulled, and carved Patel for a six and two fours before finishing off the chase with an upper-cut through third man to complete an emphatic victory.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 203/4 in 15.4 overs (Virat Kohli 69 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 61; David Payne 2-35, Jaydev Unadkat 1-29) by six wickets
