What a way to open a season. The defending champions came, they chased, they conquered — and they did it with 26 balls to spare. Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the IPL 2026 season opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 28, chasing down a daunting 202 in just 15.4 overs. Asia Cup If the rest of IPL 2026 is anything like this, buckle up.
Table of Contents
RCB vs SRH — Match Scorecard at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Match | IPL 2026 — Match 1 |
| Venue | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Date | March 28, 2026 |
| SRH Score | 201/9 (20 overs) |
| RCB Score | 203/4 (15.4 overs) |
| Result | RCB won by 6 wickets |
| Player of the Match | Virat Kohli (69* off 38 balls) |
| Top SRH Batter | Ishan Kishan — 80 off 38 balls |
| Top RCB Batter | Devdutt Padikkal — 61 off 26 balls |
| Best RCB Bowler | Jacob Duffy — 3/22 (4 overs) |
How It Unfolded
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl. SRH struggled early, losing wickets in quick succession, but Ishan Kishan steadied the innings with a captain’s knock of 80 from 38 balls. Aniket Verma added a blistering 43 off 18 deliveries, helping SRH post 201/9.
Jacob Duffy bowled a nerveless debut spell — 4-0-22-3 — dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy inside the powerplay, all falling to his hard-length attacking approach. Then, as Impact Sub, Devdutt Padikkal ripped the heart out of SRH’s attack with a high-intent 61 off 26 balls.
Virat Kohli anchored the innings to perfection, bringing up his 64th IPL half-century and remaining unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls. He and Tim David added an unbroken 40-run stand off just 19 balls to seal the win in style.
Kohli was adjudged Player of the Match after scoring his 64th IPL fifty at a strike rate of 181.58.
Key Milestones
Virat Kohli became the first batter in IPL history to score 4,000 runs while chasing. Asia Cup A record that only he could hold. For all the records Kohli has broken and is still chasing, check out our detailed Virat Kohli IPL stats and milestones tracker at TechnoSports. Also stay tuned for our full IPL 2026 season coverage, points table and schedule updates.
The Indian Premier League could not have asked for a better opening night — and RCB have announced themselves as the team everyone will need to stop.
FAQs
Q: Who won the RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 Match 1?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won by 6 wickets, chasing down SRH’s 201/9 in just 15.4 overs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28, 2026.
Q: Who was the Player of the Match in RCB vs SRH IPL 2026?
Virat Kohli was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 69 off 38 balls, also becoming the first IPL batter to score 4,000 runs while chasing.
