Phil Salt came out all guns blazing on a placid track in Mumbai as his innings laid the platform for RCB to score a big total. Phil Salt meant business as he took on the bowling head-on as Virat Kohli played second fiddle. Salt made 78 off 36 balls while Virat scored a fifty. Rajat Patidar scored a fiery half-century, finishing with 53 off 20 balls alongside Tim David, who finished things off with 34 off 16 balls as RCB amassed 240/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, MI made a match out of it, with Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma getting off to a great start before Rohit retired hurt with an injury. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya tried their best, scoring 33 and 40 respectively. But the match slipped out of their hands by now. Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford came in and put on a show as he scored an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls after being caught off a no-ball. His innings reduced the margin of defeat as MI finished with 222/5, finishing 18-runs short of the target.
Phil Salt & Rajat Patidar’s fiery fifties power RCB to 240/4.Â
Put into bat first, Phil Sat and Virat Kohli came out to bat for RCB, while Trent Boult had the ball in hand for MI. It was the Phil Salt show from the get-go, with Virat Kohli playing the perfect role of an anchor and supporting role. Kohli played his shots as well, but it was Salt all the way. He showed his class on a placid track in Mumbai. The RCB batters dominated the powerplay, amassing 71 runs for the loss of 0 wickets in the first 6-over phase.
The carnage continued beyond the power play, with both looking well set in the middle. They put on a century stand for the first wicket and went beyond, and batted for over 10 overs. They took the score to 120 inside 11 overs before Salt’s innings was cut short on 78 off 36 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes to his name, to the man with the golden arm, Shardul Thakur.
Captain Rajat Patidar came out to bat next, promoting himself up the order, and boy,y he put on a show as well. Virat was still there at the other end, but he was overshadowed by Rajat Patidar as he just smashed MI bowlers for fun in the middle phase of the game. The duo of Kohli and Patidar added 65 runs inside 4 overs. They got it in 23 balls to drive RCB forward as Kohli reached his fifty as well. The score was 185 in the 15th over when Kohli was holed out in the deep for 50 off 38 balls with 5 fours and a maximum to his name to Hardik Pandya.
Tim David came out to bat next up in the order to play the role of the finisher. MI pulled things back post the Kohli dismissal, bowling good lines and lengths and keeping RCB under some check. Just 9 runs were added to the tally before Rajat, the captain, fell for 53 off 20 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes to his name to Mitchell Santner. Jitesh Sharma came out to bat next as MI were pulling things back now.
David was the aggressor of the two as the duo tried to forge a partnership in the end overs. The duo added 37 runs in 21 balls before Jitesh fell for 10 off 9 balls with one four to his name to Trent Boult. Romario Shepherd came out to bat with 4 balls left in the innings. Boult kept things under check, but a last-ball massive six from David against Boult took RCB to 240/4 in 20 overs. David was unbeaten on 34 off 16 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name, while Shepherd was unbeaten on 2 off 2 balls. 13 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a tough night for the MI bowlers on a flat Wankhede track. Mitchell Santner finished with 1/43 in 4 overs. Hardik Pandya, the captain, finished with 1/39 in 4 overs. Trent Boult finished with 1/50 in 4 overs. Shardul Thakur finished with 1/32 in 2 overs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 0/35 in 4 overs. Mayank Markande finished with 0/40 in 2 overs. This meant that MI needed a record chase of 241 runs in 20 overs.
Sherfane Rutherford’s unbeaten 71 off 31 balls goes in vain as RCB stave off MI by 18 runs
Chasing a massive 241 runs to win the contest, keeper batter Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma came out to bat for MI while Jacob Duffy had the ball in hand for RCB. Rickelton came out all guns blazing and took the attack to RCB on a placid track, while Rohit took his time and played second fiddle to Rickelton. The duo put on 57 in just over 5 overs, but Rohit hurt his leg and could not put his weight on it and walked off retired hurt for 19 off 17 balls, never to return again later on. Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next for MI.
MI reached 62 at the end of the powerplay overs. The duo of Rickelton and Surya took the score to 72 in 7 overs before Rickelton fell for 37 off 22 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Suyash Sharma. Tilak Varma came out to bat next. Tilak came and went cheaply as Suyash had two in the over. Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Tilak fell for 1 off 3 balls to Suyash. Hardik Pandya, the captain, came out to bat next and got off the mark with a maximum.
The captain and vice-captain of the side then got together and forged a partnership with both Surya and Hardik going at less than the required rate as they added 47 for the third wicket before Surya fell for 33 off 22 balls with 5 fours to his name to Krunal Pandya. Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next. Rutherford was off the blocks straightaway. Hardik and Rutherford looked to take the innings forward and added 24 runs for the 4th wicket before the captain Hardik departed for 40 off 22 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name to Duffy.
Naman Dhir came out to bat next. Naman and Rutherford added just 9 runs to the tally before Naman was dismissed for 1 off 2 balls to Rasikh Salam. Mitchell Santner came out to bat with the score at 154/5 in 15.3 overs, and the match was gone by now. MI made sure that they did not lose further wickets, and despite being way behind in the game, they kept coming against RCB. Rutherford was dismissed off Salam, but it was a no-ball, and Rutherford entertained one and all and punished RCB.
Lots of wide calls were referred to as the match was a never-ending affair for everyone. Santner hardly got strike and was a mere spectator, but it was the Rutherford show as he came late in the piece and put on a show. It threatened RCB, but the Red and Gold team held their nerves in the end. Rutherford remained unbeaten after scoring his half-century and scored an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls, with a few sixes being hit towards the end.
The duo added 68 runs off 28 balls for the unbroken 6th wicket stand where Santner made only 8 off 6 balls. Rutherford finished with an unbeaten of 71 off 31 balls with one four and 9 sixes to his name, while Santner remained unbeaten on 8 off 6 balls with one four to his name as MI finished with 222/5 in 20 overs. 12 extras given by the fielding side.
RCB held their nerves in this fantastic contest. Suyash Sharma finished with 2/47 in 4 overs, with 2 coming in his first over. Krunal Pandya was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/26 in 4 overs. Rasikh Salam finished with 1/23 in 2.5 overs as an Impact Player. Jacob Duffy finished with 1/58 in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. Romario Shepherd finished with 0/28 in 1.1 overs. So, RCB win by 18 runs and consolidate 3rd place in the points table while MI are now in 8th place. Phil Salt was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
MI has now lost 3 matches in a row and is in 8th place, while RCB are in 3rd place and has had a good start to their campaign. MI has PBKS next in Mumbai on Thursday, while RCB next faces DC on Saturday, the 18th of April, 2026. Coming up next in IPL 2026 tomorrow is going to be SRH taking on RR live from Hyderabad on a Monday night match. SRH also lost their last game and are in 7th place with 1 win in 4 games. RR are flying high with 4 wins in 4 games.
Let’s see what is in store for us in Hyderabad tomorrow.
Also Read:Â MI vs RCB: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli & Rajat Patidar Hammer MI