Bengaluru: Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on captain Ishan Kishan’s fluent 80 off 38 balls and a blazing late flourish from Aniket Verma (43 off just 18 balls) to post 201/9 in their 20 overs against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2026 opening game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Asked to bat first on a two-paced pitch, SRH lost three wickets in power-play, but then a solid 97-run stand off 53 balls between an in-form Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen (31) steadied them. After that, SRH lost wickets in a cluster again, but thanks to Aniket’s sparkling cameo showcasing his six-hitting prowess, the side went past 200-mark.
For RCB, Jacob Duffy shined on IPL debut by executing his back of the length balls well to pick 3-22, while Romario Shepherd grabbed 3-54. Put in to bat, SRH endured a jittery start. The innings began with drama right from the word go as Duffy removed Abhishek Sharma when a top-edge on pull was caught by Jitesh Sharma.
Duffy came back to have Travis Head pull straight to deep square leg and had Nitish Kumar Reddy out in the same fashion to give RCB the upper hand. Kishan then took charge, blending watchful defence with calculated aggression. He rebuilt the innings with crisp strokeplay, finding gaps and punishing loose deliveries from Abhinandan Singh and Suyash Sharma.
His fifty came off just 32 balls, as he cleared boundary ropes with ease in his knock laced with eight fours and five sixes. But RCB bowlers continued to chip away, as Klaasen was caught by Phil Salt awkwardly taking a catch close to the boundary rope, though many felt he had touched the boundary rope.
After Suyash took out Salil Arora, Kishan’s dismissal for a sparkling 80 became a turning point, as Salt made a full stretch dive to his right to take a one-handed screamer off Abhinandan’s bowling.
With Harsh Dubey and Harshal Patel falling cheaply, Aniket turned the tide by launching a fearless counterattack laced with three fours and four sixes, with Shepherd being punished ruthlessly. Though Shepherd took out Aniket in the 19th over, SRH managed to cross 200-mark and set up a stiff chase for RCB under lights in front of their faithful Chinnaswamy crowd.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80, Aniket Verma 43; Jacob Duffy 3-22, Romario Shepherd 3-54) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(IANS)
