Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Krunal Pandya came up with a crucial fifty for the side during the clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday. Both teams locked horns in the 54th clash of the tournament at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on May 10. The high-octane game, crucial for both teams, had RCB skipper Rajat Patidar winning the toss and inviting the rivals to bat first. Mumbai Indians got off to a disappointing start and quickly lost three wickets by the end of the powerplay. ‘Swing King’ Bhuvneshwar Kumar uprooted four wickets and ended the innings with figures of 4/23, while the five-time champions posted a total of 166-7.
In return, the defending champions, too, had to go through an unfavorable start as
they lost their openers Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli on 27 (27) and 0 (1), respectively. While things started going south for the Challengers, Krunal Pandya came to their rescue and hit a much-needed 32-ball fifty. This marked Pandya’s first IPL 2026 fifty and the only third half-century of his IPL career. Pandya raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd and mark the achievement while his teammates gave him a standing ovation.
Krunal 𝘾𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝 Pandya at it again! 🔥 🎥 The @RCBTweets all-rounder oozing confidence out in the middle ❤️ Updates ▶️ https://t.co/wYlCB10dhm#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #RCBvMI | @krunalpandya24 pic.twitter.com/9jtHtSXGM3
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 10, 2026
Standing tall when needed 🫡 Krunal Pandya with his 3️⃣rd #TATAIPL fifty to lead #RCB's chase 👏 Updates ▶️ https://t.co/wYlCB10dhm#KhelBindaas | #RCBvMI | @RCBTweets | @krunalpandya24 pic.twitter.com/SM6tp474Bl
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 10, 2026
Pandya, who was up against his ex-team, Mumbai Indians, rose to the occasion and came up with a crucial knock for the defending champions to push the side towards the victory. The 35-year-old seemed to have struggled with cramps while batting and was seen laying on the floor on a few instances. Despite grimacing in pain, the senior Pandya brother kept batting, and provided the team much-needed support with the bat. Though he couldn’t stick on the crease till the very end, the former MI player posted 73 runs off 46 balls with four boundaries and five maximums.
He was caught out by Tilak Varma in what could be tagged as the ‘catch of the match’ on the last ball of the 18th over. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru were still short of 18 runs from 12 balls to record their seventh win of the season.
