England and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Phil Salt has etched an unwanted record in the IPL 2026 game against the Rajasthan Royals on Friday at the Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The right-handed batter has equalled KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw and Dwayne Smith to be dismissed thrice off the first ball of the innings in IPL. Parthiv Patel has been dismissed on most occasions in the first delivery of an innings with 4. Notably, Salt is the first batter to be dismissed thrice in an IPL match.
How did Jofra Archer’s brute of a delivery got the better of Phil Salt in Guwahati?
With Salt facing the first delivery and Jofra Archer steaming in, the Barbadian sent down a brute of a delivery that climbed more than the 29-year-old seemingly expected. Salt looked like he tried to get out of the way but gloved it as it ballooned up to be caught by Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps, giving Royals the much-needed early breakthrough.
At the time of writing this, Archer had also dismissed Devdutt Padikkal as Shimron Hetmyer took an outstanding catch to send him packing for 14.
The Royal Challengers have brought in champion seamer Josh Hazlewood for Jacob Duffy.
What is the head-to-head record between the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL?
Since the 2008 edition, the two sides have battled one another on 34 occasions. The Royal Challengers hold a narrow lead, winning 17 games but three of them have ended in no result. The Royals and Royal Challengers are two of the three sides to not have lost a game so far in IPL 2026 alongside the Punjab Kings.
RCB, who are the defending champions, defeated the SunRisers Hyderabad in a home game by gunning down a chase of 201 with ease. Bengaluru proceeded to beat the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as the latter conceded 250 for the first time in history. Meanwhile, the Royals, led by Riyan Parag, defeated the Super Kings and the Gujarat Titans to start their campaign, followed by beating the Mumbai Indians.
Rain had already delayed the toss in Guwahati and the game began only at 8:40 PM local time.
