The opening match of the Indian Premier League 2026 saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets yesterday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar chose to field first.
Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their first three wickets for just 29 runs during the powerplay. Later, captain Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen built an important 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals afterwards, a quick innings from Aniket Verma helped Hyderabad post 201 for 9.
Ishan Kishan scored 80 off 38 balls, Aniket Verma made 43 off 18 balls, and Klaasen added 31 runs.
With the ball for RCB, Jacob Duffy and Romario Shepherd claimed three wickets each, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh and Suyash Sharma took one wicket each.
In reply, Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down the target comfortably, scoring the required runs with four wickets down and 26 balls remaining.
Virat Kohli played another brilliant unbeaten knock of 69 runs off 38 balls, while Devdutt Padikkal scored 61 off 26 balls and Rajat Patidar contributed 31 runs off 12 balls.
For Sunrisers Hyderabad, David Payne took two wickets, while Jaydev Unadkat and Harsh Dubey picked up one wicket each.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Eshan Malinga also featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad but had a tough outing, conceding 35 runs in his two overs.
The defending champions RCB have now begun their campaign with an impressive victory.
Jacob Duffy was named Player of the Match.
