IPL 2026 | Challengers revel in a run-fest

Mumbai: As expected from the Wankhede surface, there were runs aplenty, and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru didn't lose any opportunity to score as many.

RCB posted a challenging 240/4, 10 short of their highest this season and their fourth straight 200-plus total, courtesy a rare occurrence of RCB’s top-three scoring contrasting fifties.

On a surface that demoralises bowlers, RCB still managed to mount pressure on the home team, inflicting an 18-run defeat on the five-time champions. MI were restricted to 222/5. It was RCB’s third win in four fixtures and MI’s third consecutive loss.

Even though MI began briskly with left-handed Ryan Rickelton leading the way and the veteran Rohit Sharma chipping in, two crucial wickets and Rohit retiring hurt applied brakes on the hosts.

Even as MI heavily relied on their proven big-hitters, skipper Hardik Pandya and T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav, the mounting asking run rate was beyond even them.

MI lost Rohit to hamstring when he was on 19 in the sixth over. Finishing the Powerplay at an acceptable 62/0, nine less than RCB’s at the same stage, leg-spinner Suyash Sharma’s twin strikes in his first over, the eighth of the innings, put MI on the back seat.

With Suyash’s first delivery, a wrong one, a well-set Rickelton top-edged to short third man. Off his fifth, Tilak Varma found short fine-leg Jacob Duffy in the way of a slog sweep.

It was a phase in the middle overs when Suyash and left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya held Suryakumar and Hardik on a tight leash. Krunal mixed his faster ones, even sending down well-directed bouncers and his round-arm deliveries as he went for only 26 runs besides dismissing Suryakumar, caught at long-leg for 33 that was without a six.

Hardik too perished, playing what looked like a disinterested shot. With the asking rate climbing, Hardik had to go for big shots and ended up top-edging to deep backward point. The writing was on the wall as MI ran out of batters who could hit big. Krunal and Suyash combined to give 73 runs in eight overs, way less than the MI spinners Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande – 83/1 in six overs.

The way RCB, put into bat, began and played out their first 10 overs, it seemed anything above 250 was on the cards. Phil Salt (78) exploded from the first over to post his first fifty in four innings this year. Virat Kohli (50) tried to bat deep and was happy to play second fiddle to Salt and later to his captain Rajat Patidar (53).

Patidar, at one stage, threatened to score the joint fastest fifty in this league. Coming at No. 3 in place of the regular one-down Devdutt Padikkal, Patidar was one strike away from joining Yashasvi Jaiswal for the fastest IPL fifty ever, off 13 deliveries. But, Boult denied him by bowling at Patidar’s toes.

While the first wicket partnership was going strong, Salt and Kohli posting 120, the second wicket between Kohli and Salt yielded 65 off just 23 balls. Two 20-run overs off leg-spinner Markande with Salt smashing him for three successive sixes in the first over and Patidar hitting him for three consecutive fours followed by a six, showed it was not a day for the bowlers.

Adding to that, the conditions were not suitable as often players took treatment for cramps, leading to the match ending 10 minutes before midnight.

Cut-off box - SCOREBOARD
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Phil Salt c Pandya b Thakur 78 (36b 6x4 6x6) Virat Kohli c Suryakumar b Pandya 50 (38b 5x4 1x6) Rajat Patidar c Varma b Santner 53 (20b 4x4 5x6) Tim David (not out) 34 (16b 2x4 3x6) Jitesh Sharma lbw Boult 10 (9b 1x4) Romario Shepherd (not out) 2 (2b). Extras (LB-1 W-11 NB-1) 13. TOTAL (for 4 wkts 20 overs) 240.
Fall of wickets: 1-120 (Salt) 2-185 (Kohli) 3-194 (Patidar) 4-231 (Jitesh).
Bowling: Trent Boult 4-0-50-1 (w-2) Hardik Pandya 4-0-39-1 (nb-1 w-1) Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-35-0 (w-1) Mitchell Santner 4-0-43-1 (w-1) Mayank Markande 2-0-40-0 Shardul Thakur 2-0-32-1 (w-6).
MUMBAI INDIANS: Ryan Rickelton c Bhuvneshwar b Suyash 37 (22b 3x4 3x6) Rohit Sharma (retd hurt) 19 (13b 2x4 1x6) Suryakumar Yadav c Dar b Krunal 33 (22b 5x4) Tilak Varma c Duffy b Suyash 1 (3b) Hardik Pandya c Rutherford b Duffy 40 (22b 6x4 1x6) Sherfane Rutherford (not out) 71 (31b 1x4 9x6) Naman Dhir c Patidar b Dar 1 (2b) Mitchell Santner (not out) 8 (6b 1x4). Extras (LB-2 W-9 NB-1) 12. TOTAL (for 5 wkts 20 overs) 222.
Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Rickelton) 2-74 (Varma) 3-121 (Yadav) 4-145 (Hardik) 5-154 (Dhir).
Bowling: Jacob Duffy 4-0-58-1 (w-4) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-38-0 (w-2) Rasikh Dar 2.5-0-23-1 Krunal Pandya 4-0-26-1 (w-1) Suyash Sharma 4-0-47-2 Romario Shepherd 1.1-0-28-0 (nb-1 w-2).
Result: RCB won by 18 runs.
PoM: Phil Salt.
RCB’s next match: Vs LSG (April 15 Bengaluru).