IPL stars lit up the opening match as both teams crossed the 200 mark in the very first game. Both teams observed a moment of silence for last year’s tragic stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, an incident that claimed 11 lives. The entire crowd, along with players and umpires, paid tribute to the victims.
RCB won the toss and chose to bowl first at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, a flat deck wicket with some early bounce. With bowling in hand, Duffy starred for RCB and took the wicket of Abhishek. After that, he removed Reddy and Head, breaking the momentum of SRH and restricting them in the powerplay. He finished his spell at 22/3 in 4 overs.
After the charge was taken by Ishan and Klaasen, they tried to take the game away from RCB with an aggressive approach. Klaasen was dismissed on 31, while the partnership between Ishan and Klaasen reached 97. Ishan played a brilliant knock of 80 runs in 38 balls, hitting 5 sixes and 8 fours. A fine finishing touch was added by Aniket, who scored 43 runs in just 18 balls with 4 sixes and 3 fours, helping SRH reach 201 in 20 overs. For RCB, Duffy took 3 wickets and Romero also claimed 3 wickets.
While chasing, RCB lost Phil Salt early, but Devdutt Padikkal was outstanding for RCB as he tore apart the inexperienced bowling unit of SRH in the absence of Cummins. He, along with Virat Kohli, ended the powerplay at 76 runs in 6 overs. Kohli remained not out on 69 off 38 balls, while Padikkal scored 61 off 26 balls, helping Rajat Patidar contribute 31 off 12 balls.
Virat, as always, showed his finishing ability with his style and calmness in the chase. Fans have grown up watching him finish games, no matter the situation, as he chases targets with his winning habit. RCB are now on the way to defending their title, starting with a 6-wicket win over SRH. No team has ever chased down 200 faster than in this innings by RCB, so they are here to defend their title.