IPL 2026: Krunal Pandya’s 73 powers RCB to thrilling two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians

Corbin Bosch’s impressive four-wicket haul ultimately went in vain as Krunal Pandya’s attacking half-century and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s crucial six in the final over guided Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a thrilling two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians (MI) on the last ball of their IPL clash in Raipur on Sunday. The defeat officially ended the playoff hopes of both Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants.

This marked RCB’s second last-ball chase victory against MI after their memorable two-wicket win in Chennai during the 2021 season while pursuing a 160-run target.

Although Bosch shone with the ball, Krunal Pandya emerged as the standout performer for RCB with a commanding 73 from 46 deliveries, featuring four fours and five sixes.

With the victory, RCB climbed to the top of the IPL points table, registering seven wins in 11 matches, while MI remained ninth with only three victories from the same number of games.

Chasing 167, RCB suffered an early setback when Deepak Chahar dismissed Virat Kohli for a first-ball duck in the opening over. Devdutt Padikkal then joined Jacob Bethell at the crease.

It was only the second time Kohli had recorded ducks in back-to-back IPL innings, the previous occurrence coming in 2022 against Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chahar struck again in his next over, removing Padikkal for 12. Captain Rajat Patidar walked in but failed to make an impact, falling to Corbin Bosch for 8 in the final over of the powerplay.

Krunal Pandya then partnered Bethell to stabilise the innings, taking RCB to 74/3 at the halfway stage. Bosch delivered another crucial breakthrough in the 13th over by dismissing Bethell for 27 off 27 balls. He also bowled a remarkable maiden over during the middle phase, the first such over between overs seven and 15 in IPL 2026.

Jitesh Sharma injected momentum into the chase with a quick cameo, including a towering six off Raj Bawa. Meanwhile, Pandya reached his fifty in the 15th over with a composed two-run shot toward mid-wicket.

Bosch continued his excellent spell by dismissing Jitesh for 18 and then removing Tim David for a golden duck, putting MI firmly back in contention.

However, Pandya kept RCB alive in the chase with two towering sixes off AM Ghazanfar before eventually departing for a brilliant 73.

Jasprit Bumrah then tightened the contest with an exceptional 19th over, conceding only three runs. In the final over, Raj Bawa dismissed Romario Shepherd, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar answered with an important six before Rasikh Salam Dar calmly collected the winning runs off the last ball to complete RCB’s dramatic triumph.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with the ball for RCB, claiming four wickets to help restrict Mumbai Indians to 166/7 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.

Bhuvneshwar, who finished with figures of 4/23 in 4 overs, gave MI an early jolt with three quick wickets and then returned to pick the crucial wicket of Tilak Varma later in the innings.

However, despite Bhuvneshwar's lethal bowling, MI's Naman Dhir and Tilak steered the team to a respectable total of 166/7 in 20 overs.

Bhuvneshwar got RCB off to a brilliant start as he provided the first breakthrough in the very first over, dismissing MI opener Ryan Rickelton (2). While Rohit Sharma briefly threatened to snatch back the momentum, smashing Josh Hazlewood for 18 runs in the second over, including two sixes, Bhuvneshwar returned to silence the MI dugout.

In a sensational third over, Bhuvneshwar removed Rohit (22 off 10), caught by Jitesh Sharma, and followed it up by dismissing the stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav for a golden duck. At 28/3, Mumbai were staring at a total collapse.

However, Naman and Tilak steadied the MI ship by stitching together an 82-run knock. The Dhir-Tilak stand hauled MI from 28/3 to 102/3 in 12 overs.

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Just as MI looked set to launch a final assault, RCB's Rasikh Salam Dar (1/42 in 4 overs) provided the breakthrough RCB desperately needed. He dismissed Naman (47 off 32) in the 13th over, ending a stand that had threatened to take the game away from the Bengaluru side.

Shortly after, Romario Shepherd (1/18 in 3 overs) struck a crucial blow by removing the dangerous Will Jacks (10), leaving MI at 136/5 after 16 overs.

Tilak brought up his fifty off 37 balls in the 17th over as MI's score read 149/5 after 17 overs. However, Bhuvneshwar returned to continue haunting the MI batting lineup as he got rid of Tilak in the 18th over, reducing MI to the score of 155/6.

Hazlewood (1/43 in 4 overs) delivered a brilliant penultimate over as he got rid of RCB's Raj Bawa (16) and conceded only six runs.

With MI's Corbin Bosch and Deepak Chahar at the crease, Rasikh Salam Dar delivered the last over and gave away only five runs, restricting 166/7 in 20 overs.

With inputs from agencies