Ishan Kishan looked unstoppable in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) opening match between RCB and SRH. Until Phil Salt took a blinder near the boundary ropes which qualifies already as one of the contenders for the catch of the tournament. Kishan, who is the stand-in captain for SRH in the first few matches, continued on his fine form and tormented the RCB bowlers at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday until he was stopped dead in his tracks by Salt off Abhinandan Singh.
Salt takes a stunner to get Kishan packing
Coming in to bat at number 3, Kishan went all guns blazing, managing to score 80 runs off 38 deliveries. He single-handedly helped SRH recover after the loss of two wickets within the powerplay and took RCB bowlers to the cleaners at will. However, it was Salt who brought an end to the SRH captain’s menace, thanks to a beautiful catch at the boundary ropes in the final delivery of the 16th over.
Kishan attempted a big hit off Abhinandan Singh which saw Salt pull off a splendid one-handed catch near the boundary to send the SRH batter packing. The SRH batter attempted to slice a full toss outside the off stump but instead found the fielder near the boundary rope, thanks to a stupendous effort. As a result, Kishan was denied of a well-deserved century.
RCB won the toss and decided to bat first in their IPL 2026 opener against SRH. Jacob Duffy, who was making his IPL debut, managed to get rid of both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head within the powerplay. It was then Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen who stitched together a 97-run partnership before the latter was sent packing in a controversial fashion owing to a catch taken near the boundary ropes by none other than Salt.
The Jharkhand keeper-batter earned his way back into the T20I setup with consistent performances in domestic cricket. And it paid off. He was extremely consistent for India in the T20 WC. He finished with 317 runs to his name from 9 innings, averaging 35.22 and boasting of a strike rate of 193.29. In the absence of Cummins, he has been named as the leader of SRH for the first few games of IPL 2026 – a position that he very well deserves. His performance on Saturday proves once again that he is ready to not just lead the team but also be a permanent part of T20s or T20Is.
Kishan made his move to SRH in IPL 2025 after he was bought for Rs 11.25 crore at the mega auction. He scored 354 runs in 14 matches at an average of 35.40, including a century in his maiden season for SRH.
| Mat | Runs | Ave | SR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 3078 | 29.59 | 138.89 |
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