Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again came to the team’s rescue as they found themselves hanging against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday. Notably, the five-time champions and the defending champions travelled to Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur to clash against each other in the 54th league-stage game of the Indian Premier League 2026. After being asked to bat first, the Blue and Gold Army posted a decent total of 166 with the loss of seven wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar came up with a splendid performance and posted 4/23 with an economy of 5.80.

In return, things got off to a difficult start for Rajat Patidar and Co. While Jacob Bethell was forced to walk back at 27 (27), former skipper and talismanic batter Virat Kohli recorded his second consecutive duck. Even reliable names such as Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar couldn’t do much and came up with 12 and 8 runs, respectively. Just when the game started slipping away from the Challengers, Krunal Pandya played a crucial 73-run knock off 46 deliveries with four deliveries and five maximums.

However, once Pandya walked back to the pavilion, momentum once again shifted towards the Mumbai Indians’ side. While the Indians had almost sealed the deal after Romario Shepherd's wicket, Bhuvneshwar Kumar flipped the script with a six off Raj Bawa in the last over. The Bengaluru-based franchise were left in the need of two runs in one ball when Rasikh Salam Dar hit Bawa and quickly sprinted for two runs to record a two-wicket win.

Mumbai Indians get eliminated from playoffs, Royal Challengers Bengaluru claim top spot in standings

The loss marked the seventh defeat for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026 and with that, they were knocked out of the playoffs race for the season. However, with their seventh win, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru climbed to the top spot in the standings. However, apart from the Mumbai Indians, the Lucknow Super Giants also missed out on their chance to remain in the contention for the season as they suffered a five-wicket loss to the Chennai Super Kings earlier during the day.

Speaking about the win, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said, “It was a very tight match, a great game. KP is the man, who has done it for the team. It was our decision, we had discussed in team meetings. We wanted to give him opportunity at number 5 and he done it pretty well. There's a lot of experience, and such players do it for the team under pressure, and it such situations. It's unbelievable, his control on the ball. It's very difficult to play Bhuvi on this kind of a wicket.”

The RCB will be up against the Punjab Kings in their second-last league-stage game of the season on Sunday, May 17.