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The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League kicked off on March 28, as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru pulled off an emphatic six wicket win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, starting their title defense campaign in style.
The defending champions put the visitors into bowl first, and New Zealander Jacob Duffy, fresh off a strong T20 World Cup campaign, gave RCB the perfect start on his IPL debut. Within the first five overs, Duffy dismissed the terrifying ‘Travishek’ pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy to introduce himself to the premier T20 competition. SRH skipper, Ishan Kishan fortunately stabilized matters with South African, Heinrich Klaasen to get Hyderabad through the powerplay and consolidation overs.
Kishan was also coming off a successful T20 World Cup and kept the momentum going to bring the Sunrisers back in the game. West Indies all-rounder, Romario Shepherd was the one to get the breakthrough for RCB, with England’s Phil Salt catching Klaasen’s slog at the boundary. Salt’s heroics didn’t end there, as he truly turned into Superman to send back Kishan, taking a diving stunner near the ropes in what is surely a strong contender for the catch of the season.
The two quick wickets sent Hyderabad into a brief frenzy, but youngster Aniket Verma took on the pressure headfirst, hammering 43 off 18, powering SRH up to 201/9.
The chase was going to be arduous for the home side, especially after Salt fell to Jaydev Unadkat in just the second over. With Virat Kohli however, no chase is really a challenge. For once though, Kohli took the backseat, at least in the early half of the innings, and it was Devdutt Paddikal who came in guns blazing to take on the Sunrisers bowling. Coming off a white-ball domestic season where he scored upwards of 1000 runs, the left hander was taking no prisoners in this IPL opener.
Paddikal zoomed to his half-century in just 21 deliveries, only to be dismissed five balls later at 61, doing enough damage. RCB’s run rate didn’t halt there, as Kohli then decided to take off, this time supported by captain Rajat Patidar, who scored a quickfire 31 from just 12. Kohli extended his record of IPL half-centuries with a 64th, seeing through the chase at an unbeaten 69 runs, with over four overs and six wickets remaining.
What we learned
RCB are here to defend their crown- RCB’s luck in the IPL had been a running joke that finally came to a halt last year after they secured their maiden IPL title. With this opening win, they have shown that win was definitely not a fluke.
They have achieved an almost perfect balance in their squad for the T20 format, bolstering it further by acquiring players like Jacob Duffy, and whilst not yet featuring, even all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and English starlet Jordan Cox. One thing’s for certain, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru are definitely no joke.
Batting alone can’t save SRH- Within the last two seasons, the Sunrisers have been defined by their blitz batting which has revolutionized T20 cricket, setting the expectations for big sixes and big scores to an all-time high. That style got SRH far in the 2024 campaign, where they finished as runners-up, but followed up in 2025 in an underwhelming manner, and with this opening game in 2026, maybe they need to face the fact that the batting might not be enough.
It’s safe to say that SRH have inspired opposition teams to match them, if not surpass their level of batting. It was crucial errors in the field that cost Hyderabad this game, most importantly when Heinrich Klaasen put down a simple catch of Virat Kohli when he was just on 28 runs. Improvements will need to be made in the bowling and fielding department if they are to truly compete.
What they said
RCB captain, Rajat Patidar- “It was a perfect start to the season and I am very happy with the way the boys performed in the opening game. Duffy was outstanding in his first match and picking up key wickets early made a big difference.”
“There are no words for the way our main batter keeps finishing games because he is consistently there till the end and makes things happen.”
SRH captain, Ishan Kishan- “Credit has to go to the opposition batters, especially Virat bhai, because getting his wicket early is always crucial. These mistakes are understandable in the first game, but we need to learn quickly and improve as a bowling unit.”
“I really enjoyed the captaincy experience and while there are nerves in the IPL if we keep winning games it will set us up well for the rest of the tournament.”
What comes next
Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope to get their first points against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Thursday, April 2nd at 7:30 P.M. IST (9 A.M. EST).
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will continue their title defense campaign against their bitter rivals, the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, April 5th at 7:30 P.M. IST (9 A.M. EST) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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