CSK coach Stephen Fleming admits his side was caught off-guard by RCB big-hitter Tim David’s 25-ball 70 not out
CSK players during their match against RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Sunday. Pics/IPL
Tim David unleashed a monstrous six-hitting clinic at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday night, burying a hapless Chennai Super Kings under an avalanche of runs as Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured their second straight win of IPL 2026.
The Australian, who walked in with 35 deliveries left, smoked a remarkable eight sixes on his way to a 25-ball 70 not out, on the back of which RCB amassed 97 in the last five overs to post a season-high 250-3. Never in the hunt, CSK were bowled out for 207, conceding a 43-run loss, their third defeat in a row.
Stephen Fleming
“Very pleased — it does not always happen that way,” a chuffed David, the Player of the Match, said. “The skipper [Rajat Patidar] was smoking it, and I just took some balls off him — it was super fun. I do not change my game much, but I have confidence from all the prep I do. I have been in the IPL for a few years. With that prep, you don’t put pressure on yourself to perform.”
One of David’s sixes was a 106-metre pull off Jamie Overton that sailed out of the stadium. “I was just looking at the ball,” Patidar remarked, his awe still evident. Patidar himself made an unbeaten 48 off 19 as he and David put on 99 for the fourth wicket in just six overs. “He is a specialist, one of the best finishers I have seen.”
RCB’s Tim David during his unbeaten 70 off 25 balls on Sunday
After enduring another disappointing night, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming put things in perspective. “The real turning point was Tim David in that last part, the acceleration through the last five overs,” the former New Zealand captain pointed out.
“210 or 220 would have been in our grasp, but we just got a little bit shell-shocked [by the David onslaught] and that flowed through into the early parts of our batting,” he added.
Put in by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, RCB built a base through openers Virat Kohli and Phil Salt, and Devdutt Padikkal overcame a sluggish start to conjure 50 off 29. “I wish I could hit anywhere close to what he hits like,” the left-handed No. 3 said about David.
70*
No. of runs scored by Tim David on Sunday — his highest in the IPL
16.97
Run-rate during the fourth-wicket stand between Rajat Patidar and Tim David (99* in 5.5 overs) — the highest for a non-opening stand in the IPL
Four
Consecutive wins for RCB against CSK
19
No. of sixes smashed by RCB on Sunday — the most by any team against CSK in the IPL
14
No. of batters to hit at least one six in a RCB vs CSK game — the most in an IPL match
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