Virat Kohli scripted history on Saturday night at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He became the first batter to score 4,000 runs while chasing in IPL history, doing so in the very first match of IPL 2026.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the IPL 2026 opener on March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Kohli’s Historic Knock
Kohli was named Player of the Match after registering his 64th IPL fifty. He played a knock of 69 runs off 38 balls at a strike rate of 181.58.
He finished the match in style. In the 16th over, Kohli smashed a six followed by three consecutive boundaries off Harshal Patel, wrapping up the chase with more than four overs to spare.
SRH’s Innings
After being put into bat, SRH faced an immediate crisis. RCB debutant Jacob Duffy produced a clinical opening spell of 3/22, dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Nitish Kumar Reddy to leave SRH at 29/3 within the powerplay.
The recovery was led by interim captain Ishan Kishan, who scored 80 off 38 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes. Kishan shared a 97-run partnership with Heinrich Klaasen to stabilize the middle order. A late blitz from uncapped batter Aniket Verma, who struck 43 off 18 balls, helped SRH cross the 200-run mark. They finished at 201/9 in 20 overs.
RCB’s Chase
RCB’s chase of 202 began aggressively, with Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli putting together a 101-run stand for the second wicket. Padikkal scored 61 off 26 balls before falling.
Rajat Patidar stepped up with a quickfire 31-run knock off 12 balls. SRH briefly struck back when David Payne dismissed both Patidar and Jitesh Sharma in quick succession. But Kohli held firm throughout and finished the job.
RCB sealed the target with six wickets in hand and 26 balls remaining.
A Record-Breaking Start to IPL 2026
Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history, with 8,661 runs across 267 matches heading into the season. The 4,000-run milestone in chases now stands alone as one of the most unique batting records in the league’s history.
RCB begin their title defence in emphatic fashion, thrashing SRH and sending a strong message to the rest of the league right from match one.
