Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the IPL 2026 opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The match carried emotional significance as cricket returned to the venue nearly a year after the June 4, 2025 stampede that claimed 11 lives during RCB’s title celebrations. Ahead of the season opener, the franchise honoured those with a minute's silence and dedicating permanent seat at the stadium.
On the field, RCB controlled the contest, with Jacob Duffy leading the charge. The Kiwi pacer removed Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the powerplay to put Hyderabad under pressure early.
Stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan responded with a brilliant counterattack, smashing 80 off 38 balls while holding the innings together. Heinrich Klaasen chipped in with 31, and Aniket Verma provided a late flourish with a rapid 43 off 18 deliveries, helping Hyderabad post 201. Even a couple of years back, it would have been a competitive total, but T20 cricket has changed significantly in modern-day as RCB eventually chased it down with absolute ease.
What happened in the second innings?
Impact player Devdutt Padikkal set the tone with a blazing 61 off 26 balls, while Virat Kohli anchored the innings with a composed supporting role during his stay at the crease. After Padikkal departed, captain Rajat Patidar took over the business and played a blistering knock of 31 runs off 12 balls. After he departed, the pressure fell on Kohli, who looked comfortable in the middle, completing his half-century in 33 balls.
Hyderabad, in the meantime, have plenty of problems that the franchise may not know how to address. Their bowling unit isn’t designed to defend totals and that is one problem that the franchise will have throughout the season. RCB batters had no problem whatsoever in chasing the total and with that, the Patidar-led side also made a statement on the brand of cricket they will play.
Scouting Duffy was top-notch as he is very similar to Josh Hazlewood, who missed out as he is recovering from an injury. Yash Dayal is ruled out of the tournament, while Nuwan Thushara is expected to miss the majority of the tournament. Even with the bowling attack looking bleak on paper, RCB seem unstoppable at the moment.
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