IPL 2026: Virat Kohli & Devdutt Padikkal lead RCB to a heroic win against SRH

Padikkal picked up from where he left off by scoring a blistering 61 off 26 balls, while Kohli hammered a measured 69 not out off 38 balls.

Bengaluru: Having waited patiently for ten months for high-profile cricket, the cricket-loving Bengaluru faithful were handed a deserving reunion gift by local boy Deddutt Padikkal and the talismanic Virat Kohli as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a smashing start to their title defence in IPL-19 here on Saturday.

Padikkal, who was in wonderful form for Karnataka across formats in the domestic season that concluded last month, picked up from where he left off by scoring a blistering 61 off 26 balls (7x4, 4x6), while Kohli hammered a measured 69 not out off 38 balls (5x4, 5x6) to anchor RCB to a resounding 6-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-speed chase at sold-out M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

Joining forces as early as the second over after Phil Salt perished in pursuit of a competitive 202-run target, both Padikkal and Kohli took the game away from the Sunrisers with their scorching 101-run partnership off 45 balls. It was the young Padikkal who played the role of the aggressor first before Kohli joined the party slowly but assuredly later on.

From the moment he strode to the crease, the 25-year-old Padikkal, playing as Impact Player, meant business. He flicked the first ball he faced off Jaydev Unadkat for a six and from that moment on, the southpaw didn’t look back as he batted in top gear right until his exit in the night over. Seeing the small white ball like a football, Padikkal stepped down on numerous occasions to tonk pacers Nitish Kumar Reddy, David Payne, and even the seasoned Unadkat for boundaries.

Padikkal also used the crease superbly. When the pacers shortened the length to stop him from stepping down, he gave himself room to cut them effortlessly. There were a few full shots too, the fans lapping up every bit of entertainment from the newly-installed Karnataka captain. 

Watching Padikkal bat at the other end, the confidence started to rub onto Kohli also. The veteran, who calls the Chinnaswamy his second home and has played some stellar knocks here, played some gorgeous shots off his own to show his powers are still very much intact despite retiring from two formats internationally. Some of the shots were breathtaking to say the least, like the lofted straight drive six off Eshan Malinga and a flicked flat and powerful six off Harshal Patel. Both the shots had the trademark powerful Kohli wrist written all over it.

Padikkal departed in the ninth over but Kohli stood firm even after that. A master of many a chase for club and country, Kohli nicely picked the right balls to play the big shots to smoothly guide Royal Challengers home in the season opener.

Earlier, pacer Jacob Duffy produced an impressive performance with the ball, picking up 4-0-22-3 in his first spell to rock the Sunrisers. A brilliant 80 off 38 balls from captain Ishan Kishan and a superb 43 off 18 balls from No. 7 Aniket Verma powered the visitors to 201/9, which proved inadequate.

SCOREBOARD

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: Travis Head c Salt b Duffy 11 (9b, 2x4), Abhishek Sharma c Jitesh b Duffy 7 (8b, 1x6), Ishan Kishan c Salt b Abhinandan 80 (38b, 8x4, 5x6), Nitish Kumar Reddy c Abhinandan b Duffy 1 (6b), Heinrich Klaasen c Salt b Shepherd 31 (22b, 2x4, 1x6), Salil Arora c Padikkal b Suyash 9 (6b, 1x6), Aniket Verma c Kohli b Shepherd 43 (18b, 3x4, 4x6), Harsh Dubey c Padikkal b Shepherd 3 (3b), Harshal Patel c Padikkal b Bhuvneshwar 0 (2b), David Payne (not out) 6 (5b), Jaydev Unadkat (not out 4 (3b). Extras (LB-2, W-4) 6. TOTAL (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 201. 

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Abhishek), 2-23 (Head), 3-29 (Nitish), 4-126 (Klaasen), 5-137 (Arora), 6-155 (Kishan), 7-167 (Dubey), 8-174 (Harshal), 9-192 (Verma).

Bowling: Jacob Duffy 4-0-22-3 (w-1), Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-31-1 (w-2), Abhinandan Singh 3-0-38-1, Romario Shepherd 4-0-54-3 (w-1), Suyash Sharma 3-0-28-1, Krunal Pandya 2-0-26-0.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Phil Salt c Klaasen b Unadkat 8 (7b), Virat Kohli (not out) 69 (38b, 5x4, 5x6), Devdutt Padikkal c Klaasen b Dubey 61 (26b, 7x4, 4x6), Rajat Patidar c Dubey b Payne 31 (12b, 2x4, 3x6), Jitesh Sharma c Unadkat b Payne 0 (1b), Tim David (not out) 16 (10b, 1x4, 1x6). Extras (B-8, Lb-3, W-7). TOTAL (for 4 wkts, 15.4 overs) 203.

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Salt), 2-110 (Padikkal), 3-163 (Patidar), 4-163 (Jitesh).

Bowling: Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-0-19-0, Jaydev Unadkat 3-0-29-1 (w-1), David Payne 3-0-35-2 (w-1), Harsh Dubey 3-0-35-1, Eshan Malinga 2-0-35-0 (w-4), Harshal Patel 2.4-0-39-0 (w-1). 

Result: RCB won by 6 wkts 

PoM: Jacob Duffy.

RCB’s next match: Vs CSK (April 5, Bengaluru).