Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 1st Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

As good as Ishan Kishan was earlier in the evening, it wasn't enough for SRH. They were tripped up by a superb new-ball performance from Jacob Duffy who made the most of a pitch that offered assistance at the start. There was some spongy bounce, some movement and some two-paced behaviour as well. As the match went on, conditions flattened out completely and RCB made a mockery of the target of 202. But irrespective of how flat the conditions were, that bowling performance must be of great concern for Sunrisers who'll be desperate to have Cummins back. That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. This is Sagar Chawla signing off on behalf of Harish, Nikhil Jadhav and Kiran Nataraj. Good night!

Jacob Duffy | Player of the match: (First IPL experience?) It was awesome. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Bangalore and RCB, and this was a hell of a way to start the campaign. I thought it was a pretty well-rounded team performance. I just tried to keep things fairly simple. The plan was to use the new ball, especially since it does a bit here in Bangalore. It can get tricky later on. I was lucky to pick up a few wickets early and then the skipper just kept giving me the ball. And as a bonus, I got to walk off after finishing my spell, a good day overall. (Bowling plans?) We spoke a lot about lengths and what works on this surface. Josh had a really good season here last year, so it was about building on what he did well and trying to replicate that in my own way. (Learnings from the T20 World Cup) I guess I had a basic template coming into that tournament. There were a couple of tough moments, definitely a few long showers thinking things through! But this is a different kind of wicket. I haven’t seen this kind of bounce in the last couple of months. It’s not the easiest place for bowlers, so I’m just learning on the go. No, that was the captain’s call (his 4th over). He just told me to go, and I was more than happy to take it on. Like I said, when the ball is new and hard here, that’s probably the best time to bowl. I was fortunate to bowl in those phases and the other guys handled the tougher overs later.

Rajat Patidar | RCB captain: The way boys played and everybody chipped in was a positive sign. First of all, it was the season opener for us, and the way everybody chipped in and did it for the team, I think that was a very positive sign for us. The way Duffy played his first match and the way he bowled, I think that was really impressive. The way he took the wickets of Head and Abhishek, I think that was the turning point for us. (Aggressive batting approach) Not a policy, but we are assessing the wicket. The wicket was good to bat on. The way Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal played their innings, I think that laid a solid base for the other batsmen. So we’ll just keep continuing to do that. I think there are no words for him (Kohli). Every time he goes in, especially when the team is chasing, he delivers as the number one batter. The way he played and stayed till the end was outstanding. It was a terrific catch by Phil Salt. Even I was surprised! But as you know, he’s a very good fielder. I’ve seen him take many catches in the air, so that was a brilliant effort.

Successful 200-plus chases for RCB in IPL
228 vs LSG, Lucknow, 2025
204 vs KXIP, Bengaluru, 2010
202 vs SRH, Bengaluru, 2026*
201 vs GT, Ahmedabad, 2024

- This is also the second-highest successful chase against SRH after KXIP gunned down 206 runs at Hyderabad in 2014.

Least overs taken to complete a 200-plus chase in IPL
15.4 - RCB vs SRH, Bengaluru, 2026*
15.5 - RR vs GT, Jaipur, 2025
16.0 - RCB vs GT, Ahmedabad, 2024
16.3 - MI vs RCB, Wankhede, 2023
17.3 - DC vs GL, Delhi, 2017

Virat Kohli in his first game:
IPL 2025: 59* (36) vs KKR, Kolkata
IPL 2026: 69* (38) vs SRH, Bengaluru

Virat Kohli’s last 5 scores vs SRH
100 (63)
42 (20)
51 (43)
43 (25)
69* (38) — today

Most runs in IPL chases
4027 - Virat Kohli*
3285 - David Warner
3238 - Rohit Sharma
2843 - Shikhar Dhawan
2832 - Robin Uthappa

Virat Kohli: Thanks for such lovely words. It’s good to get back out there. You mentioned T20 cricket, the last game I played was the final last year, but I think the way I batted in the one-day series quite recently really helped me to stay in that same kind of momentum. I wasn’t playing shots that I don’t usually play. So I knew as long as I have the rhythm, and I’ve put enough work physically behind the scenes with my fitness, things should come together nicely. And yeah, tonight was another chance to start strong and build on this. The kind of scheduling that we’ve had over the last 15 years and the amount of cricket I’ve played, for me, there was always a risk of getting burnt out rather than being undercooked. So these breaks help me mentally. I stay fresh, I stay excited. Whenever I come back to play, it’s 120%. I’m not coming back underprepared. In fact, the extra rest helps me mentally freshen up. And as long as you’re physically fit and mentally excited, both those things come together nicely. Then you’re able to contribute to the team’s cause, and that’s what you want to do as a player. You don’t want to just hold on to a spot; you want to keep performing and keep putting in the work for the team. (Padikkal's knock) Outstanding knock. I mean, right from the word go, I had plans of going aggressive in the powerplay. But when I saw him play, I was like, just keep putting him back on strike and pick the odd boundary here and there. He completely took the game away from the opposition. I even told him, that shot he hit off the slower ball over mid-on for six, at that moment I said, just keep going. You’re hitting the ball amazingly well, just keep pushing and take the game away from the opposition. If we finish with 25-26 balls to spare, we’ll also benefit in terms of net run rate. His knock was tremendous. I’ve seen him at close quarters, the skill he has and now he’s applying it. This is also at the back of a great domestic red-ball season. His timing, head position, balance, absolutely world-class. I know what he can do with the bat when he’s confident, and tonight was a display of his sheer talent.

Ishan Kishan: 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. 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. 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.

11.05pm local: RCB proving way too good for SRH in the season opener. Granted it was an excellent toss to win, but the way they've outplayed the opposition has been special. Conditions flattened out completely in the second innings and the hosts were unstoppable as they went about the run chase. Devdutt Padikkal started the carnage, captain Rajat Patidar took over the mantle after his dismissal, and then Virat Kohli capped it off. Some of the decisions were curious from Sunrisers - not using Eshan Malinga and Harshal Patel at all in the powerplay despite things getting out of control. But the way Padikkal was going, don't think it would've mattered. He put on a show and there was plenty for the home crowd to cheer about. Kohli's late flourish was the icing on the cake.

Virat Kohli becomes the first batter in IPL history to cross 4000 runs in chases.