Rishabh Pant walked off the field in tears. Mitchell Marsh could not get his team past 146. And Virat Kohli, not even in the original playing XI, walked in as an impact substitute and nearly single-handedly chased the target down. Match 23 of IPL 2026 belonged to Royal Challengers Bengaluru from the first powerplay to the last boundary, and Lucknow Super Giants had no answers.
LSG’s Batting Fell Apart After Pant’s Injury
RCB won the toss at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and chose to bowl — a decision that paid off almost immediately. Josh Hazlewood set the tone early, and it was his delivery in the fifth over that changed the game before it had really begun. A hard-length ball struck Rishabh Pant on his left elbow, and after trying to play on, the LSG captain walked off the field with the physio, visibly emotional.
Without their captain and wicketkeeper, LSG’s innings lost its spine. Mitchell Marsh top-scored with 39 off 30 balls, but nobody around him could build any momentum on a pitch that was slower than the Chinnaswamy’s usual surface. Aiden Markram fell for 12, edging Rasikh Dar to the cordon. Nicholas Pooran played on to Hazlewood. And once Krunal Pandya cleaned up Marsh and removed Abdul Samad in the middle overs, the lower order had nothing left.
The real damage came from Rasikh Salam Dar. The young pacer picked up 4 wickets for 24 runs, including two in the final over — yorking Mukul Choudhary and then bowling Avesh Khan off the last ball of the innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar chipped in with two wickets of his own, including an inswinging yorker that bowled Mohammed Shami for a first-ball duck. Pant returned to bat after the fall of wickets, as the laws permit for a retired hurt batter, but managed only 1 run before being dismissed. LSG were bowled out for 146 — a total that was never going to be enough.
Kohli’s Impact Sub Innings Set Up the Chase
Virat Kohli was not in RCB’s original XI. He had been nursing an ankle concern, and Rajat Patidar opted to rest him from the bowling-first lineup. But when the chase began, Kohli walked out as the impact player substitute to open alongside Phil Salt — and he made it count.
Kohli took 15 runs off a Mohammed Shami over, slamming three consecutive boundaries, and RCB raced to 60 inside the powerplay. Salt fell early for 7, and Devdutt Padikkal contributed 10, but by the time Kohli was dismissed by Avesh Khan for 49 off 34 balls — missing his half-century by a single run — the hard work was done. RCB were 86 for 3 after 10 overs with only 61 more needed.
Jitesh Sharma’s quickfire 23 off 9 balls kept the tempo up, and even though RCB slipped briefly to 122 for 5, Tim David (14 off 8) and Romario Shepherd (14 off 8) finished the job without fuss. RCB reached the target in 15.1 overs — 29 balls to spare.
What This Means for Both Teams
The win lifts RCB to four victories from five matches, pushing them towards the top of the IPL 2026 points table. Their bowling attack — Rasikh Dar, Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar, Krunal — looks like one of the most balanced in the tournament. And the luxury of being able to slot Kohli in as an impact player when they bat second gives Patidar’s side a flexibility most captains would envy.
For LSG, the concerns go beyond this result. Pant’s elbow injury is the immediate worry — losing their captain and best batter for any stretch of games would be a serious blow to a side that has struggled for consistency this season. They now have just two wins from five matches, and the road ahead does not get easier.
| Scorecard Summary | LSG | RCB |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 146/10 (20 ovs) | 149/5 (15.1 ovs) |
| Top scorer | M Marsh 39 (30) | V Kohli 49 (34) |
| Best bowling | Avesh Khan 2/23 | Rasikh Dar 4/24 |
| Player of the Match | Rasikh Salam Dar | |
LSG will be hoping Pant’s elbow is not as bad as it looked — because without him, their IPL 2026 campaign could unravel quickly.
