The Rajasthan Royals comfortably defeated the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 16 of IPL 2026. But why did RCB lose to RR in this game?
The Royals won the toss in a game that followed a day of heavy rains over Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. The home side decided to bowl first. The Royal Challengers scored 201 runs in 20 overs despite early setbacks.
In response, the Royals of Rajasthan chased this score down with two overs to spare, maintaining their perfect record this season.
Here, we will discuss the three reasons why did RCB lose to Rajasthan Royals in tonight’s game of the Indian Premier League.
Why Did RCB Lose To Rajasthan Royals?
1) RCB Stumbles Off The Block
The first half of the innings for the Bengaluru team was not the most optimal. On the first ball of the game, the opener Phil Salt was caught behind off a delivery by Jofra Archer.
The other opener, Virat Kohli, alongside Devdutt Padikkal, gave a massive boost to the RCB run rate early on. With a combination of some magnificent shot-making and some luck, the away team raced to 45 runs in three overs. At the end of that third over, Archer got his second wicket, dismissing Padikkal after a solid catch by Shimron Hetmyer.
This started the top and middle order collapse for RCB. In the fifth over, Kohli departed for 32 off 16; the promoted Krunal Pandya got out after making just one run in the very next over, becoming Ravi Bishnoi’s first wicket.
Ravi Bishnoi, who is the Purple Cap holder at the moment, had a solid outing tonight. He would also dismiss Krunal Pandya and had a brilliant four-over spell of 2/32.
Brijesh Sharma, who was playing only his second IPL game, got the wicket of Jitesh Sharma, first dismissing Jitesh Sharma for cheap, and then got the wicket of the dangerous Tim David for 13 off nine.
At the end of the 11th over, the RCB were reeling at 94/6. It was only a captain’s knock by Rajat Patidar, power-hitting by Romario Shepherd, and some last-over exploits by Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer that RCB even managed to reach the 200-run mark.
2) The Sooryavanshi Storm
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the talk of the town in IPL 2026. HE has displayed some of the most impactful power hitting at the top of the innings that this league has ever seen. He shone today, uprooting the Royal Challengers’ bowling attack right off the bat.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, despite looking in good colour, was dismissed early by Josh Hazelwood today. But that would not stop the 15-year-old. Vaibhav hit 16 runs in the third over, bowled by Abhinandan Singh, and then hit 18 more in Hazelwood’s next.
By the time the powerplay ended, RR’s score was 97/1. Sooryavanshi reached his half-century in the fifth over, reaching the milestone in 15 balls. This means he matched the record for the fastest 50 in IPL 2026, set by himself a few games ago.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would go on to make 78 runs in just 26 balls before his dismissal at the hands of Krunal Pandya in the ninth over. At that point, the required run rate had fallen to around six. For his out-of-this-world innings, Sooryavanshi was named the Player of the Match.
3) Jurel Finishes The Job
Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper/batter Dhruv Jurel was brought to the strike early after Jaiswal’s wicket in the second over. While Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was smacking the ball all over the park from one end, Jurel too was taking the bowler to the bleachers.
At the end of the powerplay, Dhruv was batting at 27 off 10, and at the time of Vaibhav’s dismissal, he was on the non-striker’s end at 38 off 15. However, when Shimron Hetmyer got out for a golden duck, Jurel’s role changed.
With two wickets falling quickly but the required run rate being low, the 25-year-old took the anchor role. This was doubly enforced when, in the 10th over, captain Riyan Parag departed for 3 off 5.
With 60-odd runs required in the remaining 10 overs, Jurel, along with the incoming Ravindra Jadeja, dug in on the crease and brought down the run rate. The two went a couple over without hitting a boundary before then sprinkling a few amidst some decent running between the wickets.
Dhruv Jurel would reach his half-century in the 14th over in just 25 balls. He would go on to make 81 off 43, hitting the winning runs at the end of the 18th over as RR beat RCB by six wickets with 12 balls to spare.
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