Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 17 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) became the first team in the IPL 2026 to qualify for the playoffs after defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 23 runs in a run fest at the HPCA Stadium here on Sunday.
The Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS suffered their sixth consecutive defeat when they failed to chase a 223-run target after a poor outing from the top-order batters.
Chasing the big target, PBKS started with the explosive batting duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya. Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided the first breakthrough for his side in the first over when Arya gave a catch to Romario Shepherd and went back to the pavilion without making any runs.
Bhuvneshwar struck again in his next over when the in-form Prabshimran lost his wicket. He made just two runs. Captain Iyer couldn’t stay for long as well and gave his wicket to Rasikh Salam Dar.
Suryansh Shedge added 43 runs for the fourth wicket with Cooper Connolly before Shepherd broke the partnership in the eighth over.
Marcus Stoinis joined Shedge after that and added a quick 31 off 20 balls, where Shedge played the role of the aggressor. Shedge made 35 off 22 balls with the help of a couple of sixes and as many fours before Suyash Sharma dismissed him in the 11th over.
Shashank Singh joined Stoinis at the crease after that, and the duo added a quick 67 off just 32 balls. Shashank contributed 42 runs in that partnership.
Stoinis lost his wicket in the 17th over when Josh Hazlewood trapped him in front of the wickets. He made 37 runs with the help of five boundaries.
Azmatullah Omarzai came to the crease, and Shashank changed batting gears. The duo collected 16 runs from the 18th over, where Shashank hit a couple of fours, and Azmat hit a big six over covers.
With 40 runs needed in the last two overs, Hazlewood came to bowl the penultimate over. He conceded just seven runs, which left 33 runs to defend in the final over.
Rasikh started the final over with a wide, but successfully defended the runs and also took a couple of wickets. RCB won the match by 23 runs and qualified for the playoffs with 18 points.
Earlier, the explosive half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer powered RCB to a massive 222/4. While Kohli scripted history with his record-extending ninth 500-plus IPL season, Venkatesh’s unbeaten 73 ensured the defending champions posted a daunting total.
Asked to bat first, Bengaluru got off to a steady start, reaching 17 without loss after two overs. The opening stand was broken in the third over when Punjab’s left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar dismissed Jacob Bethell for 11 with a sharp delivery.
Despite the early setback, Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal maintained the momentum, guiding RCB to 40/1 after four overs. The Bengaluru-based side continued to score freely and ended the power-play at 60/1.
Bengaluru kept the scoreboard ticking at a brisk pace and moved to 82/1 by the end of the seventh over.
The impressive 76-run partnership between Kohli and Padikkal was eventually broken in the 10th over when Brar claimed his second wicket of the match by dismissing Padikkal for a quickfire 45 off 25 balls, an innings laced with four boundaries and three sixes.
Kohli, who stitched two half-century stands, further extended his dominance in the tournament’s record books. The RCB star has now been part of 138 partnerships of 50 or more runs in IPL history, comfortably ahead of Rohit Sharma, who occupies the second spot with 107 such stands.
On the third delivery of the 17th over, Venkatesh brought up his maiden half-century of IPL 2026 in 29 balls. The milestone also marked the 13th fifty of his IPL career.
By the end of the 18th over, Bengaluru had crossed the 200-run mark as Tim David and Venkatesh unleashed a flurry of attacking strokes to keep the scoring rate soaring.
On the final ball of the 20th over, Arshdeep removed David after a quickfire 28 off just 12 deliveries, an innings featuring two boundaries and as many sixes, as RCB concluded their innings at a formidable 222/4. Venkatesh remained unbeaten on 73 from 40 balls, smashing eight fours and four sixes in a commanding knock.
For PBKS, Brar was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/35, while Arshdeep and Chahal chipped in with one wicket each.
Now, PBKS desperately need to win their next match against the already eliminated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Saturday to stay alive in the race for the playoffs. (ANI)
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