Royal Challengers Bengaluru began their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign with a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, completing the fastest successful chase of 200-plus in the tournament’s history.
Chasing 202, Bengaluru reached 203/4 in 15.4 overs, with Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal leading the effort.
Kohli scored 69 off 38 deliveries, hitting five sixes, and anchored the innings after an early setback. He also became the first batter to reach 6,000 runs in T20s and crossed 4,000 IPL runs in chases.
Padikkal accelerated the scoring in the middle overs with 61 off 26 balls, including seven fours and four sixes. His innings shifted the momentum decisively in Bengaluru’s favour. Rajat Patidar added 31 off 12 balls, while Tim David contributed 16 runs to close out the chase.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad recovered from an early collapse to post 201/9 in 20 overs.
Hyderabad lost three wickets inside the powerplay, with Jacob Duffy removing Abhishek Sharma (7), Travis Head (11), and Nitish Reddy (1). At the end of six overs, Hyderabad were 49/3.
Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen rebuilt the innings with a 97-run partnership. Klaasen scored 31 before being dismissed by Romario Shepherd in the 14th over.
Kishan top-scored with 80 off 38 balls, hitting eight fours and five sixes. He was dismissed in the 16th over as Hyderabad slipped from a stable position into another collapse.
Aniket Verma provided a late surge with 43 off 18 balls, helping Hyderabad cross the 200-run mark. The innings ended at 201/9.
For Bengaluru, Jacob Duffy (3/22) and Romario Shepherd (3/54) took three wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, and Suyash Sharma picked up one wicket apiece.
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