RCB Starts Title Defence with Dominant 202 Chase Over SRH, Kohli Unbeaten 69

Kishan-Klaasen 97-Run Partnership

Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to put up a good total, largely due to a 97-run partnership between captain Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen, with Kishan scoring a 80 off 38 balls. Their dismissals at a crucial moment slightly interrupted their progress however Aniket Verma's blazing 43 off 18 balls was able to take SRH beyond 200, which still seemed a bit below-par on such a batting-friendly wicket.
For Royal Challengers Bangalore Jacob Duffy was the pick of the bowlers with an outstanding figure of 3/22 while Shepherd also managed to take three wickets though he was pricey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh and Suyash Sharma each got a wicket.

RCB's Total Domination

RCB started with Phil Salt and Kohli. Unadkat got Salt out. Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli scored 101 runs. That gave RCB the lead over SRH. Parikkal was dismissed by Harsh Dubey at 61. Rajat Patidar added 31 runs after that. The stand helped shift momentum. The game was no longer in SRH's hands.
Payne took out Patidar early. Then sent Jitesh Sharma back for a golden duck. Tim David came in and joined Kohli. The pair pushed Bengaluru past the target smoothly. Kohli finished with an unbeaten 69.

Patidar Lauds Duffy and Kohli's Chase

Patidar, RCB's skipper, says the team played well from start to finish. Duffy had a strong showing with the ball, taking wickets off Head and Abhishek Sharma. Abhinandan Singh played his first match and performed well under pressure. Kohli is number one when chasing, and he stayed at the crease until the end - there are no words to describe that level of consistency. Salt was excellent in fielding, Mostly with those blinders - it wasn't surprising at all. He just tried to make an impact with his deliveries.

RCB & SRH Playing XIs with Impact Subs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
Impact subs: Devdutt Padikkal
Sunrisers Hyderabad:Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (C & WK), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Impact subs: David Payne