Royal Challengers Bengaluru once again looked every bit like defending champions as they notched their second straight victory in IPL 2026. After starting the season with a convincing six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, RCB went on to beat Chennai Super Kings by 43 runs on Sunday, moving to the summit of the points table. Batting first, Rajat Patidar and his team piled up 250/3 in their 20 overs, with Tim David striking an unbeaten 70 off just 25 balls to set up the platform. CSK tried to chase, but the innings eventually ended at 207 all out, marking their third consecutive defeat of the campaign.
RCB’s big total and CSK’s chase
- RCB began their innings and reached a commanding total of 250/3 in 20 overs.
- Rajat Patidar anchored the start, while Tim David played the role of closer, finishing unbeaten on 70 from 25 deliveries.
- CSK responded in pursuit of the target, but could not keep up with the required run rate.
- Chennai were eventually dismissed for 207, falling short by 43 runs and extending their losing run to three straight matches.
Despite the match being a high-scoring affair, one light-hearted drinks-break incident from RCB’s innings quickly became the talk of social media, leaving fans in stitches. The episode unfolded when Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal were at the crease during the drinks interval.
- RCB head coach Andy Flower and batting coach Dinesh Karthik stepped out to deliver drinks to Patidar and Padikkal.
- To everyone’s surprise, an umpire picked up Patidar’s bottle and even took a sip from it.
- Dinesh Karthik, Flower and Patidar’s reactions added to the humour as the moment went viral.
- Realising what had happened, a visibly annoyed Patidar hurried toward the umpire and demanded the bottle back.
- Karthik was also seen exchanging words with the umpire, while Andy Flower stood nearby and watched the entire back-and-forth.
After the result against CSK, Patidar praised Tim David’s ability to finish games in style. The RCB skipper described David as one of the best finishers he has come across, adding that he has delivered in similar fashion even in the previous season.
Patidar also highlighted Krunal Pandya’s bowling impact, crediting the all-rounder’s four-over spell of 2/36. Those figures included the wickets of half-centurion Sarfaraz Khan and Kartik Sharma, and Patidar explained that whenever he sensed pressure, he looked toward Pandya to make things happen.
“He is a specialist, and he is one of the best finishers, I would say. And I think I enjoyed it a lot. And he has done it last year also. I think he is more sense to sense, if you say, the best finisher and the most consistent throughout the game and one of the best finishers I have ever seen,” Patidar said in the post-match interaction.
He added, “I think whenever I came under pressure, I always looked to KP. Where is KP? I have that much belief in him.”
