Royal Challengers Bengaluru held their nerve in a last-ball thriller to knock Mumbai Indians out of IPL 2026 with a dramatic two-wicket win on the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Worldwide Stadium on Sunday. Chasing 167 on a floor that challenged batters all through, RCB had been carried by Krunal Pandya’s preventing 73 and a sensational ending burst from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to seal victory off the ultimate supply.Early collapse as MI strike in powerplayMumbai Indians posted 166/7 after a powerful restoration led by Tilak Varma’s fluent 57 and Naman Dhir’s 47, which helped them rebuild after a disastrous begin.
Nevertheless, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s sensational spell of 4/23 had earlier ripped by means of the highest order, eradicating Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav in fast succession earlier than returning later to dismiss Tilak Varma as nicely, making certain MI had been restricted to a preventing complete regardless of their middle-order resistance.The chase started in chaos. Deepak Chahar struck early, eradicating Virat Kohli for a golden duck within the first over, whereas Devdutt Padikkal additionally fell cheaply as RCB slipped to 24/2. Corbin Bosch then joined the assault, dismissing skipper Rajat Patidar to depart Bengaluru reeling at 47/3 on the finish of the powerplay.At that stage, Mumbai had been firmly on prime. Jasprit Bumrah stored issues tight, Bosch extracted awkward bounce, and the sluggish pitch made scoring tough. Jacob Bethell tried to regular issues with a affected person 27, however the actual shift got here by means of Krunal Pandya.Krunal Pandya leads RCB’s fightbackKrunal first absorbed stress, then steadily counterattacked. He used the angles cleverly, swept aggressively in opposition to Will Jacks and AM Ghazanfar, and focused the straight boundary with rising confidence. His towering six over extensive long-on off Ghazanfar introduced up a significant stand with Bethell and swung momentum again RCB’s means.At the same time as wickets fell round him, Krunal stored preventing, visibly scuffling with cramps however refusing to decelerate. His calculated hitting in opposition to Bosch and Ghazanfar ensured RCB stayed inside attain of the goal.Bosch and Bumrah drag MI again into managementMumbai, nonetheless, stored responding by means of Bosch, who produced a superb 4/26, together with a wicket-maiden that eliminated Bethell and later double strikes to dismiss Jitesh Sharma and Tim David. Bumrah’s penultimate over was equally suffocating, leaving RCB needing 15 off the final six balls.Remaining-over drama The ultimate over turned chaotic. A large and a no-ball from Raj Bawa gave RCB hope, however he struck again by eradicating Romario Shepherd, pushing Mumbai again on prime. That introduced Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the crease.Bhuvneshwar, earlier the star with the ball, then delivered the defining second with the bat. After surviving a large bouncer, he smashed Bawa over deep cowl for a shocking six, earlier than calmly taking a single to depart two wanted off the final ball.Rasikh Salam Dar struck it straight again and the batters accomplished the second run with a determined dive, sparking wild celebrations within the RCB camp.Finish of the street for Mumbai, assertion win for RCBFor Mumbai, it marked a heartbreaking finish regardless of robust particular person performances. For RCB, it was a victory constructed on resilience, Krunal Pandya’s grit, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s all-round brilliance in one of many season’s biggest thrillers.
