RCB batsman Tim David can single-handedly carry any game; Despite this, Aiden Markram made a big mistake by beating an easy rebound from his LSG teammate Abdul Samad, who had done the hard work.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru were marching towards a dominant victory over Lucknow Super Giants anyway and were in a commanding position as they defeated the LSG bowlers while chasing a low score.

The strong position was established by the RCB players, who returned with impressive numbers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya and Josh Hazlewood, the three experienced bowlers, picked 6 wickets in total while Rasikh Salam made the LSG batsmen bite the dust with a four fer.

Aiden Markram’s mistake gives Tim David a lifeline

Tim David and Romario Shepherd were at the crease, and RCB needed just 25 runs in 7 overs. Jitesh Sharma and captain Rajat Patidar were dismissed in the same over by Prince Yadav but it was too late for the LSG team to recover.

Tim David hit Digvesh Rathi for a six off the fourth ball of his last over, and the bowler, who had already been uneconomical in the game, returned with a ball slightly off the surface. Tim David ducked the ball and Abdul Samad caught it sharply on the edge of the mid-wicket boundary.

Having done all the hard work, Samad caught him near the fence and could not resist his momentum as he kept the ball in play by passing it to Markram, who came as his back-up. However, Markram seemed distracted and missed the simplest of rebounds. Rathi was denied his first wicket of the night, and Tim David continued his attack with a boundary off the next ball.

Virat Kohli to Jitesh Sharma, RCB batsmen give their team a massive rise in run rate

None of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batsmen looked for any kind of way to let the LSG players have their way. After Phil Salt’s dismissal, Virat Kohli led the attack as he scored 40 runs at a strike rate of 200 in the powerplay, before being dismissed off the bowling of Avesh Khan.

However, the attack increased further with Jitesh Sharma and Rajat Patidar; The two new batsmen in the crease took charge against the likes of Digvesh Rathi and Mohammad Shami. After the quick goals, Tim David and Romario Shepherd gave the finishing touch to RCB.

They chased down the score of 148 runs in the 16th over of the game as the match ended with 29 balls remaining in the innings. The match was won by the Royal Challengers, which helped them increase their running pace.

RCB returns to the top of the table in IPL 2026

Royal Challengers Bengaluru are back on the same page as Rajasthan Royals who also managed to win 4 of their 5 matches. Earlier they were on top of the points table with 8 points, and now RCB has also reached the same point.

RCB have won four matches and have taken the lead in net run rate over the Royals. They now have the highest run rate in the competition at +1.503. Only Punjab Kings have a chance of topping the points table if they win their next match tomorrow.

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