MI’s decision to bowl first vs RCB in their IPL 2026 clash backfired big time as the opposition batters made merry at the expense of the home bowlers. IPL’s best batter ever Virat Kohli was not one to miss out as he slammed his 65th 50 but departed soon after. However, when he reached his 50, Kohli was unhappy and when he got out he even flung his helmet in anger. Why did this happen?

Well, it was the strike rate that was the issue. Kohli’s opening partner Phil Salt slammed 78 from 36 while his skipper Rajat Patidar made 53 from 20. Tim David came out to slam 34 from 16. In other words, these guys smashed the ball at a strike rate in excess of 200. Kohli himself made 50 from 38. That means his strike rate was just a little over 130. Well below par for him in such a batting line-up. This could have been a factor in why he was so angry with himself.

© X/IPL

Kohli’s knock was ultimately a match-winning one as RCB won by 18 runs. But trouble in his ankle prevented Kohli from taking the field. The victory keeps RCB’s Playoffs hopes well on track as they are in 3rd place. MI meanwhile are languishing in 8th position.

When it comes to IPL 2026, Kohli is in good form. He’s hit two 50s in four innings with best of 69 not out. The man has made 179 runs at an average of 59.67 and a strike rate of 162.73. In fact, he is only 160 runs away from breaking the barrier of 9000 runs. At the moment, he needs two more sixes to become only the third IPL batter to enter the 300-club. The odds of both milestones happening in IPL 2026 are extremely high.

Virat Kohli looks disappointed after getting out , Still he has scored a half century for not like Virat Kohli's Level.#MIvsRCB pic.twitter.com/tpDeIZvyJV

— flicksX18 (@flicks_X18) April 12, 2026

RCB’s next game is vs LSG on April 15. The defending champions are looking good to defend their title but it is still too early to make any predictions. We shall only know how things stand when the top four are finalised to fight it out for the last two spots.

The IPL 2026 is in its 3rd week and the final is on May 31. Will RCB be lifting the trophy on that day and join MI plus CSK as the only teams to have won consecutive titles? Only time will tell!