RCB Smashes IPL’s All-Time Record, Writes History On The Back Of Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced SRH [Source: AP Photos]

Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) started in an exciting way as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the opening match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, March 28. 

RCB won the toss and chose to bowl first. This decision shaped the match as SRH had to set a target. Sunrisers Hyderabad did not start well and lost three early wickets in the powerplay. Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Nitish Reddy were dismissed quickly, which put the team under pressure.

SRH recover after early wickets

However, the team recovered strongly afterwards. Ishan Kishan, who was leading the team, played an outstanding innings. The young batter scored 80 runs from 38 balls with eight fours and five sixes.

In addition, Aniket Verma played a quick and powerful innings of 43 runs from just 18 balls. His aggressive batting helped the team cross the 200-run mark. As a result, SRH finished their innings at 201/9.

On the bowling side for Bengaluru, Jacob Duffy had an impressive debut and took three wickets. Romario Shepherd also picked up three wickets. Even so, SRH managed to post a strong total.

RCB batting makes chase look easy against SRH

RCB started their chase in a very aggressive manner. Notably, Devdutt Padikkal gave the team a strong start by scoring 61 runs off 26 balls. His innings included seven fours and four sixes. He also reached his fastest IPL fifty in just 21 balls.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli returned to T20 cricket after ten months and played a brilliant innings. He scored an unbeaten 69 runs from 38 balls with five fours and five sixes. His batting entertained the crowd and kept the chase under control. Kohli also completed his 64th IPL fifty during this match.

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Notably, captain Rajat Patidar also contributed with a quick 31 runs from 12 balls. Therefore, RCB completed the chase very comfortably and finished the match with 26 balls remaining.

RCB becomes 1st team in IPL to achieve fastest 200+ chase

It is worth mentioning that this victory was very special for Rajat Patidar's team. The team created history by completing the fastest 200+ run chase in IPL history in terms of balls remaining. 

Notably, they broke the previous record held by Rajasthan Royals in 2025, who completed a 200+ chase with 25 balls remaining. RCB completed the chase with 26 balls remaining, which is now the new record.

Fastest 200+ run chases in IPL history

Meanwhile, this was RCB’s fourth successful 200+ chase in IPL history. Interestingly, three of these successful chases came in their last four attempts. Earlier, the defending champions had won only one out of their first 18 attempts while chasing 200+ targets. 

After this great start to IPL 2026, RCB will play their next match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 5.

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