Phil Salt’s One-Handed Stunner Steals the Show in IPL 2026 Opener

Phil Salt Catch: In the very first match of the IPL 2026 tournament, Royal Challengers Bangalore star player Phil Salt stole the spotlight. Although he was dismissed cheaply while chasing the target, he took two sensational diving catches while fielding in the first innings. Videos of these spectacular catches are going viral across social media platforms. First, he sent Heinrich Klaasen back to the pavilion, and subsequently, he dismissed Ishan Kishan.

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During the first innings, Romario Shepherd came on to bowl the 14th over for Royal Challengers Bangalore. On the very first delivery of the over, Heinrich Klaasen attempted to play a big shot; however, his timing was slightly off. Fielding near the boundary line, Phil Salt crouched down to take an incredible catch. The umpire requested a replay, after which Klaasen was declared out. Klaasen departed after playing a knock of 31 runs off 22 balls.

After taking that spectacular catch to dismiss Klaasen, Salt pulled off yet another stunning catch. This time, the batsman at the crease was Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Ishan Kishan. Ishan Kishan had batted impressively during this innings, compiling a score of 80 runs. He had a golden opportunity to reach a century; however, at that precise moment—off a delivery bowled by Abhinandan Singh—Phil Salt executed a diving, one-handed catch. The ball was racing rapidly toward the boundary line when Salt leaped into the air and plucked it out of the sky with a single hand.

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In this match, Sunrisers Hyderabad had set a target of 202 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore to win. In pursuit of this target, Phil Salt was dismissed for a mere 8 runs while playing for Bangalore. Subsequently, Virat Kohli remained unbeaten until the very end; he anchored the innings with a knock of 69 runs, guiding his team to victory. Meanwhile, Devdutt Padikkal played a robust innings of 61 runs, while Rajat Patidar contributed 31 runs. Royal Challengers Bangalore won this match by 6 wickets, thereby opening their account on the points table.

Batting in the first innings of this match, Travis Head was dismissed after scoring just 11 runs, while Abhishek Sharma scored 7 runs. Coming in at number three, Ishan Kishan played a commanding innings of 80 runs, while Heinrich Klaasen contributed 31 runs. Finally, Aniket Verma played a knock of 41 runs, propelling the team’s total score to 201 runs.

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