IPL 2026: Salt, Kohli, Patidar fifties power RCB; Rohit retires hurt as MI fall short

MUMBAI: Riding on half-centuries from Phil Salt (78 off 36; 6x4, 6x6), skipper Rajat Patidar (53 off 20; 4x4, 5x6) and Virat Kohli (50 off 38; 5x4, 1x6), Royal Challengers Bengaluru downed

Mumbai Indians

by 18 runs in another high-scoring contest at the Wankhede on Sunday night.Chasing 241, Mumbai Indians finished at 222 for five, with ‘Impact Player’

Sherfane Rutherford

producing a late blitz—71 not out off 31 balls, including nine sixes. He hammered four sixes in the final over off Romario Shepherd, but the damage had already been done.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The win took RCB to three victories in four matches, lifting them to third on the table, while MI slumped to their third straight defeat, after four games, staying eighth.

What RCB produced with the bat was pure carnage — an innings studded with 18 sixes, leaving MI’s fielders mere spectators on a hot and humid night.The conditions took a toll on players from both sides. Kohli did not return to the field, while Rohit Sharma, who went past 6,000 runs for MI, retired hurt due to cramps after scoring 19 (13b). RCB pacer Rasikh Salam, who came in as an ‘Impact Player’, also struggled with cramps but managed to dismiss Naman Dhir (1) in the 16th over.

Asked to bat first, RCB raced away to a formidable 240 for four. Tim David, facing his former franchise, provided the finishing touch with an unbeaten 34 off 16 balls (2x4, 3x6).MI started their chase brightly, but Suyash Sharma struck twice to remove Ryan Rickelton (37 off 22; 3x4, 3x6) and Tilak Varma (1), reducing them to 74 for three. Hardik (40 off 22; 6x4, 1x6) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 22) sparkled briefly, but MI needed one of them to go deep.

The highlight of RCB’s innings was Patidar’s stunning blitzkrieg. The in-form batter brought up his fastest IPL fifty (17 balls) and has now aggregated 195 runs in four matches at 65.00 with a staggering strike rate of 214.28.Walking in after Shardul Thakur broke the opening stand by dismissing Salt, Patidar went berserk — smashing 4, 6, 6, 6 off his first four balls. Among those was the shot of the night: a reverse sweep for six over backward point off leg-spinner Mayank Markande.MI’s bowling unravelled under pressure. Attempting to bowl wide and short, they conceded 11 wides, with Thakur (1-32 in two overs) sending down six of them. The bigger concern for MI, however, was

Jasprit Bumrah

’s continued wicketless run. He returned 0-35 in four overs, making it four matches in a row without a wicket this season.NUMBER GAMES

Stats: Rajesh Kumar