Kohli and Padikkal power RCB to six-wicket win over SRH in IPL 2026 opener
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium fell silent before a ball was bowled on Saturday night. Eleven seats sat empty, draped in garlands. Both sets of players wore black armbands. A minute of silence preceded the toss. Then, once the cricket began, the noise came flooding back.
Kishan rescues SRH from early trouble
RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and sent Sunrisers in. New Zealand seamer Jacob Duffy, playing his first IPL match, made an immediate impact. SRH stumbled to 29 for 3 inside the powerplay as Duffy found swing under the floodlights and removed both openers cheaply.
Stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan steadied things with a counterattacking 80 off 38 balls, one of his best knocks in Sunrisers colours. Aniket Verma joined the party late with a blistering 43 off 18 deliveries, launching three sixes over long-on in the final two overs. Duffy finished with 3 for 22 from his four overs, the pick of the RCB attack.
SRH posted 201 for 9, a total that looked competitive given the early-season pitch and the weight of the occasion.
Padikkal sets the tone, Kohli finishes the job
It looked like a tricky chase. It was not. Devdutt Padikkal smashed 61 off 26 balls at the top of the order, racing to fifty in just 21 deliveries. By the time he fell in the ninth over, RCB already had 120 on the board and the required rate was barely above a run a ball.
Virat Kohli, opening the batting, took his time early before finding his range. He finished unbeaten on 69 off 38 balls, guiding the chase home with a pulled four through midwicket. Patidar chipped in with a quickfire 31 off 12 balls lower down the order. RCB reached 203 for 4 in 15.4 overs.
Kohli collected the Player of the Match award and told the broadcast that the atmosphere at the Chinnaswamy was “something I'll never forget” on a night loaded with emotion.
What this means for both sides
For RCB, it was the perfect start to their title defence. Duffy's performance eased concerns about their depleted pace stocks, while Padikkal's impact as number three looks like a shrewd call. For SRH, Kishan showed enough to justify the captaincy faith placed in him while Pat Cummins recovers from his back injury, but the bowling will need tightening quickly.
The IPL continues on Sunday. The tournament began without its traditional opening ceremony after the BCCI decided to honour the stampede victims with restraint rather than spectacle.
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