Devdutt Padikkal walked in at number three with RCB needing 202, and immediately took guard against SRH's pace attack as if the target barely registered. The left-hander smashed 61 off just 26 balls — four boundaries, five sixes — and his assault in the powerplay bent the chase decisively RCB's way. When the pressure built in the middle overs, Padikkal had already done the heavy lifting.
Kohli provided the perfect foil, crafting 69 off 38 with the strike rotations and conventional strokeplay that anchored the innings. But it was Padikkal's 26-ball pyrotechnics that made SRH's 201 look gettable. Ishan Kishan's 80 off 38 — a fluent affair with six boundaries and four sixes — had threatened to push SRH past 210. Aniket Verma's late-order carnage added 43 off 18. Yet RCB's bowlers, led by David Payne's 2/35, kept the final over damage in check.
In the end, RCB won with 26 balls unused, Padikkal's explosive 26-ball surge the difference between a contest and a chase. A night where acceleration mattered more than steady batting, and the left-hander understood the assignment perfectly.