Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered a six-wicket thrashing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2026 opener at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday (March 28).
Asked to bat first, SRH were reduced to 29/3, with RCB debutant Jacob Duffy removing Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy inside the powerplay.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl, and debutant Jacob Duffy picked up three wickets in the powerplay, including the prized scalps of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in the same over.
SRH’s interim skipper Ishan Kishan led from the front with a blistering 80 off 38 balls, including 8 fours and 5 sixes, before being caught to a one-handed stunner by Phil Salt. Aniket Verma provided late impetus with a 18-ball 43-run cameo to propel the team to 201/9 in 20 overs.
RCB made light work of the stiff target, chasing it down in just 15.4 overs. Virat Kohli expertly anchored the chase, finishing unbeaten on 69 off 38. Devdutt Padikkal (61 off 26) and skipper Rajat Patidar (31 off 12) also produced impactful knocks.
After the game, Ishan acknowledged that early wickets and poor shot selection caused a collapse, though the pitch became easier to bat on later.
“I think definitely the wicket played well after the first 3-4 overs. You know, we lost a few early wickets, and we have to take care of that maybe next time because, looking at the wicket in the second innings, it was pretty much easier to bat on and the ball was coming on quite well.
“So yeah, we’ll have to be a little smart with the shot selection next time. But yeah, we did well after losing track, which gives a lot of confidence to us,” Ishan said in the post-match interview.
During the chase, RCB lost Salt for just 1 but Kohli added 101 runs for the second wicket with Padikkal to swing the game decisively in defending champions’ favour.
Ishan Kishan lauded the performance of the opposition batters, specifically mentioning Kohli's impact during the run chase and the need to get him out early.
“You know, especially you have to give some credit to the batters as well, the way they batted, especially Virat Bhai while chasing. It’s very important to get his wicket as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he keeps on going, it’s hard to stop him. We’ll have to work a little hard. It’s the first game and these mistakes are acceptable for now.
“We’ll be a little more cautious with the bowling, areas where we need to execute, and we might be stronger from the next game,” he remarked.
Kishan stated that he enjoyed the experience of leading the team despite the nerves associated with the IPL.
“I actually enjoyed it a lot, you know, enjoyed every moment of it. It’s IPL, so sometimes nerves are there. But we’ll get better with this as a team. What else can I say about the captaincy? If we win the games coming ahead, it will be much easier for us going ahead in the tournament,” he concluded.
