Salt, Patidar Carnage Powers RCB to 240/4 vs MI in IPL 2026 Thriller

It was fireworks all around as Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Patidar (53 off 20) put on a brilliant display of power-hitting while Kohli struggled to a pedestrian 50 off 38 balls. After the Mumbai Indians had pulled things back, Tim David provided a late boost with a 16-ball 34 as RCB made the most of the batting-friendly conditions to post a challenging total, and set a record chase for five-time winners Mumbai Indians.

Asked to bat first, Phil Salt came out with guns blazing as he and Virat Kohli raised 100 runs for the opening wicket stand. They scored 13 runs off Trent Boult's opening over, with Kohli blasting him for a six and Salt for a four.

After steady scores off Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Boult, Phil Salt welcomed Mitchell Santner by hammering a hat-trick of sixes (first a heave over deep square leg, the next clubbed over wide long-on, and third smashed over deep square leg), followed by a four off his first four deliveries of the match, blasting 22 runs from the over.

While Kohli scored at a sedate pace, Salt continued to operate in the third gear, hitting Mayank Markande for a hat-trick of boundaries as he raced to his fifty in 25 balls. A six to celebrate his fifty off Markande in the eighth over meant Salt motored to 61 off just 27 balls. He eventually fell to Shardul Thakur in the 11th over, hitting an easy catch straight to Pandya at extra cover. Salt scored 78 off 36 balls, blasting half a dozen fours and sixes on the way.

But there was no respite for the Mumbai Indians as Rajat Patidar took over the role of power-hitter. Starting with a four off Thakur, Patidar smashed a hat-trick of sixes off Markande in the 12th over. He smashed a six and a couple of fours off Thakur as they scored 23 runs off the 13th over and struck a four and six off Boult in the 1th over as he threatened to smash the record for the fastest fifty in IPL history, reaching 44 off 11 balls.

Meanwhile, Kohli struggled to a sluggish fifty off 37 balls before Patidar blazed to his half-century from 16 balls, with a streaky four off Santner. Both Kohli and Patidar fell soon after completing their fifties, as the Mumbai Indians applied the brakes as the RCB fell from 185/1 to 194/3 within eight balls.

Kohli ended his misery by holing out to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on off Pandya for 50 (38 balls, 5x4, 1x6) while Patidar fell to Santner, attempting to shank him over long-on but miscuing it to Tilak Varma. Patidar hammered four boundaries and five maximums in his 20-ball 53.

Things went a bit quiet after that, though Tim David blasted Pandya for a six off a free hit and helped them score fifty runs in the last five overs. David remained unbeaten on 34 off 16 balls, reached with a six off the last ball bowled by Boult, as RCB, who were threatening to go beyond 250 after reaching 115/0 at the halfway mark and 201/3 in 17.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240/4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Rajat Patidar 53, Virat Kohli 50, Tim David 34 not out; Shardul Thakur 1-32, Hardik Pandya 1-39) against Mumbai Indians.

- IANS