The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted in a sea of red like this Wednesday Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) delivered a masterclass in clinical T20 cricket. In the 23rd match IPL 2026 RCB were dismantled in the season Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) With 5 wickets to go, chasing a modest target of 147, they have about five overs to spare. The win, which cemented RCB’s dominant position at the top of the table, was built on the back of a sensational bowling performance and a vintage batting display from the league’s most iconic figure.
Rasikh Salam’s brilliance halts LSG with a low score in the first innings
The story of the first innings was written by the young pace sensation Hello Rasikhwhose “flaming spell” shattered the LSG batting order. It was a master stroke for RCB to win the toss and dominate the trophy. While a veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone with an early scalp, it was Salam who provided the knockout blows.
Salam’s figures of 4/24 in 4 were proof of his tactical evolution. He broke the dangerous opening stand by letting go first Aiden Markram 12 for, but his real impact was in the death overs. LSG struggled to find momentum, further hampered by injury fears Rishabh pantsHaving to retire, he was injured at the beginning of the innings. Although Mitchell Marsh (40 off 32) and Ayush Badoni (24 of 38) despite trying to rebuild, Salam consistently found improvements.
The young pacer’s ability to mix scorching yorkers with deceptive slower balls has seen him clear the tail, including the wickets. Mukul Choudhary (39) and Avesh Khan. LSG were eventually bundled out for 146 in the 20th over. Backed by a disciplined bowling effort Josh Hazlewood5.00 economy, ensuring that LSG never managed a competitive result at the usually high-scoring Bengaluru track.
Virat Kohli’s clinical knock propels RCB to a dominant win over LSG.
Chasing 147, RCB wasted no time in asserting their authority. Despite losing early Phil Saltpresentation Virat Kohli He fired up the home crowd as an Impact Player. Kohli looked sublime in touch from the first delivery, anchoring the chase with a mix of aggression and surgical precision.
Kohli played a clinical knock of 49 runs off just 34 balls laced with 4 boundaries and 6 big sixes. His strike rate of 144.11 kept the pressure firmly on the LSG bowlers. He shared a crucial partnership of 57 Devdutt PadikkalTakes RCB to 60/1 inside the powerplay. Even though Avesh eventually managed to remove Kohli, just shy of a half-century, the damage was already done.
LSGs Prince Yadav He put up a late fight, picking up 3 wickets for 32 runs, but the required rate never troubled the Bengaluru side. Contributions from Rajat Patidar (27 off 13) and Jitesh Sharma (9-for-23) kept the scoreboard at nearly 10 runs apiece. Finally, Tim David and Romario Shepherd kept calm to end the game at 149/5 in just 15.1 overs. This crucial win with 29 balls to spare not only sent fans into a frenzy but also boosted RCB’s Net Run Rate significantly and made them the team to beat this season.
Also WATCH: Mitchell Marsh knocks Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the park with a massive 102m six in the RCB vs LSG match.
Here’s how the fans reacted:
Rasikh dar salam was the last missing piece of this super RCB team.
This could be RCB’s biggest XI ever.
And yes..Virat Kohli is not even the captain..😭 pic.twitter.com/RkHmSATBoD— Its_itachi (@shree9503) April 15, 2026
Rasikh Salam: 4-0-24-4
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 4-0-27-3
Josh Hazlewood: 4-0-20-1RCB FAST BOWLERS SHOW AT CHINNASWAMY 🤯⚡ pic.twitter.com/FXhkjumixa
— Nur Alam (@actornoor73) April 15, 2026
Rashikh Salam has one of the best slow ones in this IPL. This is what impressed me the most when I first chose it for J&k. #rcb
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 15, 2026
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 4-0-27-3
Josh Hazlewood: 4-0-20-1
Rasikh Salam : 4-0-24-4
Krunal Pandya: 4-0-38-2
Suyash Sharma : 4-0-34-0
RCB’s Bowling performance tonight. 🥵📈#RCBvsLSGpic.twitter.com/pQDQHVlE8c
— Harshaa (@HarshAA__18) April 15, 2026
With two huge performances from Rasikh Salam, the unnecessary screams of playing Hazlewood and Duffy will thankfully be muted.
I am not advocating putting Shepherd & Duffy on subs and using them accordingly
The shepherd must be given a long rope, clarity…— RCB Xtra (@Rcb_Xtra) April 15, 2026
I expect Rasikh Salam to smash 1M+ followers by tomorrow, backed by the biggest, loudest fanbase in the league. ❤️🔥
Stand up RCB fans, we need to make our best bowler famous. Let the numbers explode overnight. pic.twitter.com/grrpia1YWa
— MAMU (@ElevateUrMind4) April 15, 2026
Rasikh Hi Dar – you are incredible!
Good luck on Chinnaswamy’s 146
A 4 WICKET HAUL for Salam solves RCB’s third pacer issue and the team is now in the know#cricket #IPL2026 #iplupdate #TATAIPL2026 #TataIPL #IPL_2026 #IPL #ipl #CSK #RCBvsLSG #LSG #RCB #LSGvsRCB pic.twitter.com/61LfWiDHOw
— Team India🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@PritiThaku53390) April 15, 2026
Orange cup for Virat Kohli. He scored 162 points. pic.twitter.com/tvczylF0bN
— Juylov Vladislav (@juylov_vlad) April 15, 2026
Virat Kohli who retired 2 years before T20Is is still India’s best T20I batsman and also the best in the world♥️
I said during the T20I WC that Virat is still the best in the world and it will be proved in the IPL where every player will face the same conditions and he proved me right! pic.twitter.com/j8WnYS9lTZ
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) April 15, 2026
📢RCB TAKES LSG 5 WICKETS..!!
Defending Champions on the tabletop. 👍 pic.twitter.com/zjb7A8Hl8I
— Denmark (@BhttDNSH100) April 15, 2026
Also WATCH: Josh Hazlewood hits Nicholas Pura’s stumps with a peach during RCB vs LSG.
