Historic win for RCB: Kohli, Padikkal, Duffy star as defending champions thrash SRH by 6 wickets in IPL 2026 opener

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a solid start to their IPL 2026 title defence, beatin Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets in the season opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad post a target of 202 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB chased down the target easily in just 15.4 overs, losing four wickets in the chase. This is now the fastest successful chase of 200+ runs in IPL history.

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Dominant chase by RCB

Virat Kohli, playing his first T20 match in ten months, remained unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls, smashing five fours and five sixes. This was his 64th IPL fifty.

Devdutt Padikkal played a blazing innings of 61 off just 26 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes. His aggressive strokeplay set the tone for the chase, helping RCB finish the game with 26 balls to spare.

Captain Rajat Patidar also played a quickfire cameo of 31 off 12 balls.

SRH’s total

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a competitive 201 for 9 in 20 overs. Ishan Kishan top-scored with a quick 80 off 38 balls, while Aniket Verma chipped in with 43. For RCB, debutant Jacob Duffy impressed with excellent figures of 3/22 in four overs, and Romario Shepherd took 3/54.

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How the chase unfolded

SRH got an early breakthrough when Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Phil Salt. However, Padikkal got off to a flying start, racing to 28 off just 10 balls. Kohli soon joined the party and both batters dominated the powerplay, taking RCB to 73/1 in six overs.

Padikkal brought up his fifty in just 21 balls, his fastest in the IPL, before holing out for 61. Kohli continued his classy batting, reaching his fifty in 33 balls. Even though Patidar and Jitesh Sharma fell in quick succession, Kohli stayed calm and finished the chase in style with an upper-cut for four.

Brief Scores

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 201/9 in 20 overs

(Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 203/4 in 15.4 overs

(Virat Kohli 69*, Devdutt Padikkal 61; David Payne 2-35, Jaydev Unadkat 1-29)

Result: RCB won by 6 wickets

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