Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs SunRisers Hyderabad Match Scorecard: In an incredible spell of hit-the-deck fast bowling, New Zealand speedster Jacob Duffy, who made his debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, startled SunRisers Hyderabad’s opening with three important wickets in the first match of IPL 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Duffy was a menace with his short of length deliveries as Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Nitish Reddy fell cheaply.
The first wicket that fell was of Abhishek Sharma, who top-edged one delivery as wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma made the catch look easy behind the stumps. The second wicket was of Travis Head, who failed to evade the fielder over towards the deep backward square leg as Phil Salt took a good catch.
The third wicket was of Nitish Reddy, who top-edged another delivery of Duffy as debutant Abhinandan Singh took an easy catch.
What a way to announce your arrival in the #TATAIPL! 🔥#RCB fans, how would you rate Jacob Duffy’s fiery debut start in the powerplay? ❤️
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 28, 2026
RCB won the toss, opted to bowl
The defending champions, RCB, won the toss and elected to bowl first against SRH
During the tournament opener against the Hyderabad-based franchise, RCB players will also wear black armbands as a tribute to the 11 lives lost due to last year’s tragedy near M Chinnaswamy Stadium. A statement from RCB said, “Royal Challengers Bengaluru will pay tribute to the eleven members of the RCB family who tragically lost their lives in the unfortunate incident on June 4.”
“As a mark of respect, players will wear practice jerseys bearing the number 11 during the warm-up, followed by black armbands during the match.”
“In a lasting gesture of remembrance, eleven seats at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will remain unoccupied, serving as a permanent tribute to the fans whose unwavering support will always be a part of the RCB family,” the statement concluded.
Playing XI of both teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma.
with inputs from agency
