In Bengaluru, on March 28, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 201/9 in their 20 overs against the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, in the opening game of IPL 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Asked to bat first on a challenging pitch, SRH lost three wickets in the powerplay, but then a solid 97-run partnership between Ishan Kishan (80 off 38 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (31) stabilized the innings. After that, SRH lost more wickets, but thanks to Aniket Verma's brilliant late innings (43 off 18 balls), the team crossed the 200-mark.
For RCB, Jacob Duffy made a good debut, taking 3-22 with well-placed deliveries, while Romario Shepherd took 3-54. Put in to bat, SRH had a shaky start. The innings began with drama as Duffy dismissed Abhishek Sharma after a top-edge pull was caught by Jitesh Sharma.
Duffy then dismissed Travis Head with a straight pull to deep square leg, and Nitish Kumar Reddy was also dismissed in the same manner, giving RCB the advantage. Kishan then took control, combining watchful defense with calculated aggression. He rebuilt the innings with sharp strokes, finding gaps and punishing loose deliveries from Abhinandan Singh and Suyash Sharma.
His fifty came off just 32 balls, as he easily cleared the boundary ropes with a knock of eight fours and five sixes. However, RCB bowlers continued to chip away, as Klaasen was awkwardly caught by Phil Salt near the boundary rope, though many felt he had touched it.
After Suyash dismissed Salil Arora, Kishan's brilliant 80 became a turning point, as Salt made a full stretch dive to take a one-handed screamer off Abhinandan's bowling.
With Harsh Dubey and Harshal Patel falling cheaply, Aniket Verma then launched a fearless counterattack with three fours and four sixes, punishing Shepherd ruthlessly. Though Shepherd dismissed Aniket in the 19th over, SRH managed to cross the 200-mark and set up a challenging chase for RCB under lights in front of their loyal Chinnaswamy crowd.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Asked to bat first on a challenging pitch, SRH lost three wickets in the powerplay, but then a solid 97-run partnership between Ishan Kishan (80 off 38 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (31) stabilized the innings. After that, SRH lost more wickets, but thanks to Aniket Verma's brilliant late innings (43 off 18 balls), the team crossed the 200-mark.
For RCB, Jacob Duffy made a good debut, taking 3-22 with well-placed deliveries, while Romario Shepherd took 3-54. Put in to bat, SRH had a shaky start. The innings began with drama as Duffy dismissed Abhishek Sharma after a top-edge pull was caught by Jitesh Sharma.
Duffy then dismissed Travis Head with a straight pull to deep square leg, and Nitish Kumar Reddy was also dismissed in the same manner, giving RCB the advantage. Kishan then took control, combining watchful defense with calculated aggression. He rebuilt the innings with sharp strokes, finding gaps and punishing loose deliveries from Abhinandan Singh and Suyash Sharma.
His fifty came off just 32 balls, as he easily cleared the boundary ropes with a knock of eight fours and five sixes. However, RCB bowlers continued to chip away, as Klaasen was awkwardly caught by Phil Salt near the boundary rope, though many felt he had touched it.
After Suyash dismissed Salil Arora, Kishan's brilliant 80 became a turning point, as Salt made a full stretch dive to take a one-handed screamer off Abhinandan's bowling.
With Harsh Dubey and Harshal Patel falling cheaply, Aniket Verma then launched a fearless counterattack with three fours and four sixes, punishing Shepherd ruthlessly. Though Shepherd dismissed Aniket in the 19th over, SRH managed to cross the 200-mark and set up a challenging chase for RCB under lights in front of their loyal Chinnaswamy crowd.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru
