Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are scheduled to play the season opener of the 2026 IPL season

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally here, with less than 24 hours to go for the first game between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and one-time champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Ahead of the game, let us check out head-to-head statistics between the two sides, what happened in their last meeting, and what AI has to say about the upcoming game.

Head-to-head

Head-to-head, the two sides have met 25 times in the tournament's history. In 13 matches, the result was in SRH’s favour, while in 11, RCB went home as the winner. One game between the two sides ended in a draw. So far, Hyderabad has won 7 out of 10 matches played at SRH's home, while Bengaluru has won 3.

RCB VS SRH Prediction

- Abhishek Sharma will finish game in powerplay
- Travis Head will take care of fraud jacob duffy
- Ishan Kishan century loading
- Klassen will end the career of bewada krunal pandya and suuass sharma
- Virat another 50(48) loading pic.twitter.com/xH5e9u1cNb

— ADITYA (@wXtreme18) March 27, 2026

On the other hand, at Bengaluru’s home stadium, where the season opener will take place, nine matches have been played so far between the two sides, with five victories in Bengaluru’s favour and three in Hyderabad’s.

Last season’s result

The two sides only met once in the tournament last season, and that match took place at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium. The game was scheduled to be played in Bengaluru, but heavy rainfall led to the venue change.

Aura நாயகன் அலப்பறை நாயகனாக மாறிட்டாரு!😆💙

📺 காணுங்கள் | TATA IPL 2026 | RCB vs SRH | 28th March, 5:30 PM| JioHotstar & Star Sports தமிழில்
#TATAIPL #TATAIPL2026 pic.twitter.com/r37X0249yc

— Star Sports Tamil (@StarSportsTamil) March 25, 2026

Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad had posted a massive target of 231 runs, thanks to Ishan Kishan’s 94 runs in 48 balls, Abhishek Sharma’s 34 runs off 17 balls, another 24 runs in 13 balls from Heinrich Klassen’s bat and 26 runs in nine balls from Aniket Verma. Hefty runs scored at a blistering pace enabled Hyderabad to post a target of 11.55 runs per over.

In response, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli fought back, scoring 62 runs in 32 balls and 43 runs in 25 balls, respectively. However, the rest of the Bengaluru batting line-up slogged and managed only 189 runs, losing the game by 42 runs.

Despite the defeat, RCB finished the table stage in second place with 19 points, while SRH failed to reach the playoffs, finishing sixth with 13 points.

Significant match fact

Last time When SRH played at chinnaswamy we scored 287 🥵🔥 pic.twitter.com/QBJj26YMHq

— OG Reddy 🧡 (@Orangereddy287) March 11, 2026

In 2024, SRH posted 287/3, breaking their own previous records and hitting 22 sixes in the match, whereas in 2022, they bowled out RCB for 68, the lowest score in the rivalry.

AI prediction

Finally, when it comes to AI prediction, the ChatGPT AI chatbot leaned towards Bengaluru by stating, "In an opener, teams usually benefit from familiarity, settled roles, and crowd momentum more than an abstract ceiling. RCB has continuity under Rajat Patidar, proven senior batting through Kohli, and a bowling unit that looks better equipped than SRH’s to survive Chinnaswamy conditions. SRH may still post or chase a massive total if Head, Klaasen, and Kishan click together, but over 20 overs, RCB seem to have fewer question marks. My prediction: RCB win a close, high-scoring first game because they are the more complete side and arrive with home advantage plus greater stability.”