Royal Challengers Bengaluru held their nerve in a last-ball thriller to knock Mumbai Indians out of IPL 2026 with a dramatic two-wicket victory at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Sunday. Chasing 167 on a surface that challenged the batsmen throughout, RCB were carried by a fighting 73 from Krunal Pandya and a sensational final burst from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to seal victory in the final delivery.Early collapse as MI strike in the powerplayMumbai Indians posted 166/7 after a strong recovery led by Tilak Varma’s fluent 57 and Naman Dhir’s 47 to help them recover from a disastrous start.
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Why Suryakumar Yadav Will Lose India T20I Captaincy: Everything You Need To KnowBut Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s sensational spell of 4/23 tore through the top-order earlier, removing Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession, before later coming back to dismiss Tilak Varma as well, ensuring MI were restricted to a fighting total despite their middle-order resistance.The chase began in chaos. Deepak Chahar struck early to remove Virat Kohli for a golden duck in the first over, while Devdutt Padikkal also fell cheaply as RCB slipped to 24/2. Corbin Bosch then joined the attack, dismissing skipper Rajat Patidar to leave Bengaluru at 47/3 at the end of the over.By this stage, Mumbai were firmly on top. Jasprit Bumrah held firm, Bosch provided a nasty bounce and the slow height made scoring difficult. Jacob Bethell tried to calm things down with a patient 27 but the real breakthrough came through Krunal Pandya.Krunal Pandya leads RCB’s fightbackKrunal first absorbed the pressure, then gradually switched to a counterattack. He used the angles smartly, aggressively pouncing on Will Jacks and AM Ghazanfar and heading for a straight boundary with growing confidence. His towering six over wide long-on from Ghazanfar pulled off a crucial stand with Bethell and swung the momentum back RCB’s way.Even as wickets fell around him, Krunal kept fighting, visibly struggling with cramps but refusing to slow down. His calculated hitting against Bosch and Ghazanfar ensured that RCB remained within reach of the target.Bosch and Bumrah drag MI back in controlBut Mumbai still responded through Bosch, who produced a brilliant 4/26, including a wicket-maiden to remove Bethell and later a double strike to dismiss Jitesh Sharma and Tim David. Bumrah’s penultimate over was equally stifling, leaving RCB needing 15 off the last six balls.Drama to the finale The finale was messy. A wide and no ball from Raj Bawa gave RCB hope but they struck back by removing Romario Shepherd to push Mumbai back up. This brought Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the crease.Bhuvneshwar, earlier a star with the ball, then delivered a defining moment with the bat. After surviving a wide bouncer, he smashed Bawa over deep cover for a stunning six before calmly taking a single to leave two needed off the last ball.Rasikh Salam Dar hit straight back and the batsmen completed the second run with a desperate leap, sparking wild celebrations in the RCB camp.End of the road for Mumbai, declaration of victory for RCBIt marked a heartbreaking end for Mumbai despite strong individual performances. For RCB, it was a victory built on resilience, grit from Krunal Pandya and all-round brilliance from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in one of the biggest thrillers of the season.
