Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) registered an emphatic five-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday (April 15) and moved to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.
Opting to bowl first, RCB restricted LSG to a below-par 146/10 in 20 overs. Rasikh Salam Dar delivered his career-best IPL spell (4-24 in four overs) for the home side, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-27 in four overs), Krunal Pandya (2-38 in four overs) and Josh Hazlewood (1-20 in four overs) chipped in with impressive figures.
In reply, the defending champions overhauled the target with five wickets and 29 deliveries to spare. Virat Kohli broke the chase with a fine knock of 34-ball 49, while Rajat Patidar (27 off 13), Jitesh Sharma (23 off 9), Tim David (14* off 8) and Romario Shepherd (14* off 8) produced brilliant cameos to boost RCB’s Net Run Rate (+1.503).
After the win, Kohli praised the team’s clinical and aggressive approach while also pointing out areas for improvement.
“Guys, another good win for us, I won't keep it long at all. I think we were quite professional with the back, conscious effort to try and take the game away from the opposition early on. After we lost Salty, the idea was to press back counter-attack and not give them a sniff in the game and we ended up doing that,” Kohli said in a video shared by the franchise.
Kohli reflected on RCB’s shift towards counter-attacking batting template, noting a conscious effort to take the game away from the opposition rather than consolidating under pressure. Skipper Patidar has been a catalyst for this style, striking at 213.46 this season.
“Again, the handover of momentum from one guy to the other is something that's working really nicely for us. When Rajat came in, of course, he recovered again and played some amazing shots. In small periods of pressure, we chose the right shots, put the pressure right back on the opposition and we just stay ahead of the game at all times,” he added.
While addressing the areas for improvement, Virat Kohli mentioned that he doesn't ‘like seeing collapses.'
“From a personal perspective and also from a batting group perspective, I think I would have liked to see us finish with two or three down. I don't like seeing collapses, but bloody well done and good to see Sheppy (Romario Shepherd) finally get some time with the back and finish the game off. KP (Krunal Pandya) is the only one left now, so everyone gets some game time and then we'll probably see a celebration next time. Well done, very professional, we'll keep moving ahead,” he remarked.
