Royal Challengers Bengaluru 149 for 5 (Kohli 49, Prince 3-32) beat Lucknow Super Giants 146 (Marsh 40, Rasikh 4-24, Bhuvneshwar 3-27) by five wickets

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bowled Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) out for 146 and chased it down with nearly five overs to spare as they moved to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.

This win was thanks to the defensive bowling skills of Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya. They took three wickets between them. Others were more successful on the night but it was very much a case of pressure created at one end resulting in mistakes at the other. Rishabh Pant had a chastening night, taking a blow to his left elbow, retiring hurt in the fifth over, coming back in the 16th with LSG in dire straits and being dismissed for 1 off 6.

Hazlewood's excellence

With Hazlewood back in the team, and bowling three of the first seven overs, RCB gained an early stranglehold over the game. On a pitch which was dry and holding up a bit, he made life extremely hard for the batters by never giving them a chance to free their arms. When Pant tried, he suffereed a blow on the left elbow and had to retire hurt. When Nicholas Pooran tried, he dragged the ball onto his stumps. RCB's quicks conceded runs at just over seven an over in the first 10. When they focused on keeping the ball around the off stump, runs would only come at just over three an over during this same period. Hazlewood was running so hot he merited a slip and a short leg at one point.

Krunal's landmark

There are now 12 spinners with 100 wickets in the IPL. It is a list dominated by wristspinners and mystery spinners. For Krunal to end up there shows just how well he works within his limitations though lately he has been pushing against them, bowling bouncers and, on Wednesday, a crouched, low-arm delivery that did for Mitchell Marsh. The Australian had made 40 of LSG's 71 runs at that point and thought he had a short ball he could put away, but the change in Krunal's action made sure it didn't bounce as much as expected.

Marsh was bowled off an inside edge. Together, Hazlewood and Krunal bowled 23 dot balls. The pressure they put resulted in wickets for Rasikh Salam (4 for 24) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3 for 27). Pant came back to bat again with his left arm strapped up but was one of five wickets that fell in the death overs (17 to 20).

Kohli takes the orange cap

Playing for the first time in his IPL career as an Impact Sub, Virat Kohli hit six fours and a six in his first 14 balls, showing once again a willingness to manufacture shots and hitting in the air. LSG helped his cause as well by bowling too full. These were not the conditions to go searching for conventional help. RCB hit the deck. Even a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar didn't bother pitching the ball too far up.

LSG didn't get the memo. They were a distant second in this game tactically. Kohli was 32 off 14 as RCB put on 60 in the powerplay. Once the field spread, and LSG hit better lengths, runs became harder to come by. Kohli made 17 off his last 20 balls and fell for 49 off 34.

Full report to follow...