Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated the Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets in a thrilling IPL 2026 contest. MI have been eliminated from the 19th season after losing their 8th match. RCB complete the chase of 167 on the last ball of the contest, with Rasikh Salam taking a double. The defending champions needed 15 runs in 6 balls, and Mumbai were considered favourites. However, Raj Bawa was unable to handle the pressure as he bowled three wides, 1 no-ball, and also conceded a six as Bengaluru crossed the finishing line to reach the No.1 spot in the points table. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s (7 off 2) runs were vital.
RCB were on the back foot when Virat Kohli (0), Devdutt Padikkal (12), and Rajat Patidar (8) returned to the dressing room with just 39 runs on the board. Jacob Bethell (26) added 55 runs with Krunal Pandya, who single-handedly kept his franchise in the game. Despite getting impacted by cramps, the all-rounder didn’t give up and went on to accumulate 73 runs off 45 balls, laced with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
In between, Jitesh Sharma (18) and Tim David (0) didn’t stay in the middle when needed. When Krunal was dismissed on a score of 149, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Romario Shepherd, who almost scripted his team’s downfall, managing 4 runs in 11 deliveries. Bhuvneshwar and Rasikh kept their cool to close out the proceedings in favor of Bengaluru.
For Mumabi, Corbin Bosch took 4 wickets while Deepak Chahar claimed two scalps. AM Ghazanfar and Raj Bawa dismissed one batter each.
Earlier, the five-time champions suffered another batting collapse. Ryan Rickelton (2) and stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) were ordinary with the bat. Although Rohit Sharma posted 22 off 10, the respectability was given by Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma. Tilak smashed 57 runs in 42 balls, with the help of 3 fours and 2 sixes. Naman’s 47 runs came in 32 balls, including 5 boundaries and 2 maximums.
Will Jacks (10) and Bawa (16) entered the double-digit mark.
Bhuvneshwar added four scalps to his bowling figures while Hazlewood, Rasikh, and Shepherd claimed one wicket each.
Comments are closed.