Watch: Jofra Archer dismisses Phil Salt for first-ball duck during IPL 2026 clash vs RCB

Both the unbeaten sides, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), came up against each other for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. RR have won three of their fixtures, while Bengaluru came to this game with successive wins. 

Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag won the toss and decided to bowl first on a surface that was under the covers for a decent time. There was no prediction of rain for this encounter, but the unwanted guest delayed the proceedings for nearly 40 minutes.

Jofra Archer dismisses Phil Salt for golden duck

After a lengthy break, the players made their way into the middle. Jofra Archer, as expected, was given the new ball while Phil Salt took strike for the very first ball. And in the battle of two English players, the bowler won the contest on the very first ball. 

Archer banged the ball halfway into the surface and got a stiff bounce to create an issue for Salt, who got the ball at an awkward position and got tangled up in the pull shot. He took his eyes off as the ball kissed the leading edge of his willow and popped straight up in the air before Dhruv Jurel completed an easy catch.

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However, Devdutt Padikkal, the new batter, didn’t back out and opened his face to smash the third ball for a boundary before Virat Kohli ended the over with a lucky boundary. He got an outside edge into the slip region as the flying wicket-keeper couldn’t hold onto the catch.

RR lack luck and smart planning after dream start

Rajasthan, despite the dream start of sending back the opener on the very first ball, leaked 32 runs in the first two overs. This included a new ball swinging much for wides away from the batter, while Nandre Burger cut Kohli in half, but Jurel failed to collect the ball behind the stumps.

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It was a little good news for the Bengaluru side, as they welcomed Josh Hazlewood into the eleven in place of Jacob Duffy, who unfortunately missed out after the first couple of games.

Brief Scores (at the time of writing)- RCB 58/3 (Virat Kohli 32, Jofra Archer 2/26) vs RR

Fans react to Archer dismissing Salt for golden duck

Here is how the fans have reacted to Archer sending back Salt for a golden duck-