Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) jumped to the third spot in the IPL 2026 table with a convincing 18-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 12). The match went on for a staggering 4.5 hours, and would almost certainly lead to over-rate penalties for both sides.
Each of the RCB top-three scored fifties, and Tim David hit a quick 36 as the visitors set a mammoth 240/4 in the first innings. MI played catch-up throughout the second innings, with only Sherfane Rutherford’s 71 off 31 late in the chase proving too little too late.
Skipper Hardik Pandya struck 40 off 22 balls, but neither he nor the others managed to take control of a match that dragged on well past the scheduled time.
Chasing 241, a top-heavy MI side
produced a modest powerplay, reaching 62, and also lost Rohit Sharma (19 retired hurt) to a right hamstring injury by the end of it.
Even with Suryakumar Yadav replacing Rohit, MI never really found the platform needed to pursue such a daunting target. Ryan Rickelton (37 off 22) started brightly, but Suyash Sharma’s double strike in the eighth over (2/47) left Mumbai in trouble.
Rickelton was undone by extra bounce and top-edged a catch to Bhuvneshwar Kumar at short third man, and to the hosts’ frustration, Tilak Varma (1) failed yet again.
Attempting a sweep off the penultimate ball of the over, Tilak simply offered catching practice to Jacob Duffy at short fine leg.
Hardik and Suryakumar came together but could not mount a counter-attack. On a docile pitch, MI failed to hit a single six between overs 8 and 13, and although Hardik struck a few boundaries, there was little support from the other end.
Suryakumar’s trademark sweep off Krunal Pandya went high in the air, and Rasikh Dar judged the trajectory perfectly to complete a straightforward catch at deep backward square-leg.
Krunal was RCB’s standout bowler with figures of 4-0-26-1, cleverly varying his lengths and slipping in the odd sharp short ball that batters usually ignore — MI’s approach was no different.
The result was virtually decided when Hardik fell to Duffy, mistiming a shot to Romario Shepherd at deep third man.
Earlier, half-centuries from Kohli, Salt and Patidar set the tone as RCB piled up a formidable 240 for four.
Salt and Kohli added 120 for the opening wicket, while Patidar and David played explosive cameos in the latter half to drive the defending champions into a commanding position.
The innings began with Kohli producing a stunning flick off his pads for a flat six off Trent Boult over deep square leg. While Kohli continued to find the occasional boundary, it was Salt who really pushed the scoring rate.
The Englishman gave himself room to hit Boult and Hardik for fours, pulled Boult contemptuously into the stands for six, and then punished Mitchell Santner with three consecutive sixes when the New Zealand captain missed his lengths.
RCB’s early surge — 50 coming up in 4.2 overs — forced MI to recall a wicketless Jasprit Bumrah for a second over in the powerplay, something they rarely do.
Salt then targeted leg-spinner Mayank Markande in the eighth over, cracking three fours in a row, while Kohli attacked Santner’s third over for two more boundaries.
In desperate need of a wicket, Mumbai Indians finally handed the ball to Shardul Thakur, who had Salt caught by Hardik at cover, ending the 120-run opening stand.
Benefitting from some wayward bowling, Patidar nearly matched the record for the fastest IPL fifty before bringing it up off 17 balls.
He began by lofting Shardul Thakur over cover for four and then capitalised on poor lengths from Markande, belting him for three successive sixes. In no time, Patidar had raced to 34 off 9 deliveries.
Salt’s early onslaught and Patidar’s 53 off 20 in the middle overs allowed Kohli to control the strike and reach his own half-century, before he was dismissed for a 37-ball 50 in the 15th over.
(With agency inputs)
