The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted in a sea of red this Wednesday as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) delivered a masterclass in clinical T20 cricket. In the 23rd match of the IPL 2026 season, RCB dismantled the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 5 wickets, chasing down a modest target of 147 with nearly five overs to spare. The victory, which cements 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 by the league’s most iconic figure.
Rasikh Salam’s brilliance halts LSG for low score in the first innings
The narrative of the first innings was written by the young pace sensation Rasikh Salam, whose “fiery spell” left the LSG batting lineup in tatters. Winning the toss and opting to bowl proved to be a masterstroke for RCB. While veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone with early scalps, it was Salam who provided the knockout punches.
Salam’s figures of 4/24 in 4 overs were a testament to his tactical evolution. He first broke a dangerous opening stand by dismissing Aiden Markram for 12, but his real impact came in the death overs. LSG struggled to find momentum, hampered further by an injury scare to Rishabh Pant, who had to retire hurt early in the innings. Although Mitchell Marsh (40 off 32) and Ayush Badoni (38 off 24) attempted to rebuild, Salam consistently found the breakthroughs.
The young pacer’s ability to mix searing yorkers with deceptive slower balls saw him clear out the tail, including the wickets of Mukul Choudhary (39) and Avesh Khan. LSG was eventually bundled out for 146 in 20 overs. The disciplined bowling effort was supported by Josh Hazlewood, who maintained an economy of 5.00, ensuring LSG never reached a competitive total on a typically high-scoring Bengaluru track.
Virat Kohli’s clinical knock steers RCB to a dominant victory over LSG
Chasing 147, RCB wasted no time in asserting their authority. Despite the early loss of Phil Salt, the introduction of Virat Kohli as an Impact Player sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Kohli looked in sublime 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 massive sixes. His strike rate of 144.11 kept the pressure firmly on the LSG bowlers. He shared a crucial 57-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, taking RCB to 60/1 within the Powerplay. While Avesh managed to eventually remove Kohli just shy of a half-century, the damage was already done.
LSG’s Prince Yadav staged a late fightback, picking up 3 wickets for 32 runs, but the required rate was never a concern for the Bengaluru side. Contributions from Rajat Patidar (27 off 13) and Jitesh Sharma (23 off 9) kept the scoreboard ticking at nearly 10 runs per over. Ultimately, Tim David and Romario Shepherd stayed calm to finish the game at 149/5 in just 15.1 overs. This emphatic win with 29 balls remaining not only thrilled the fans but significantly boosted RCB’s Net Run Rate, making them the team to beat this season.
Also WATCH: Mitchell Marsh launches Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the park with a gigantic 102 meter six in RCB vs LSG match
Here’s how fans reacted:
Rasikh dar salam was the last missing piece of this super RCB team fr..
Ngl this might be RCB’s greatest XI ever..
And yeah..Virat Kohli ain’t 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
— Noor Alam (@actornoor73) April 15, 2026
Rashikh Salam has one of the best slower one in this IPL. This is what Impressed me the most when i picked him first 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 theses two gigantic performances from Rasikh Salam, those unnecessary shouts of playing Hazlewood & Duffy together will be off thankfully.
I’m not much in favour of putting Shepherd & Duffy in the subs and using accordingly
Shepherd should be given a long rope, clarity…— RCB Xtra (@Rcb_Xtra) April 15, 2026
I’m expecting Rasikh Salam to smash 1M+ followers by tomorrow, he’s backed by the biggest, loudest fanbase in the league. ❤️🔥
Get up, RCB fans, we have to make our best bowler famous. Let the numbers explode overnight. pic.twitter.com/grrpia1YWa
— MAMU (@ElevateUrMind4) April 15, 2026
Rasikh Salam Dar – you are incredible!
Lucknow all-out for 146 at the Chinnaswamy
4 WICKET HAUL for Salam, solving RCB’s third pacer issue and the team is figured out now#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 got a strike rate of 162. pic.twitter.com/tvczylF0bN
— Juylov Vladislav (@juylov_vlad) April 15, 2026
Virat Kohli who took retirement from T20Is 2 years back is still India’s best T20I batter & also world’s best♥️
During T20I WC, I said Virat is still the best in the world & same will be proved in IPL where every player will get same conditions & he proved me right! pic.twitter.com/j8WnYS9lTZ
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) April 15, 2026
📢RCB BEAT LSG BY 5 WICKETS..!!
Defending Champions on the table topper. 👍 pic.twitter.com/zjb7A8Hl8I
— Danish (@BhttDNSH100) April 15, 2026
Also WATCH: Josh Hazlewood knocks over Nicholas Pooran’s stumps with a peach in RCB vs LSG showdown
