PBKS host the team that beat them in the 2025 final as RCB head to Dharamsala one win from sealing the top two
Eleven months ago Royal Challengers Bengaluru held off Punjab Kings by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium to lift their first ever IPL title after an 18-year wait. On Sunday afternoon, Match 61 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala puts the same two teams back on the same field. The standings could not look more different.
Rajat Patidar's RCB sit top of the IPL 2026 table on 16 points from 12 games, level with Gujarat Titans but ahead on net run rate. Punjab Kings are fourth on 13 points after five straight defeats, the most recent of which was a six-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians at Dharamsala two days ago, when Tilak Varma's unbeaten 75 off 33 chased down 201 with a ball to spare.
What RCB need
A win at Dharamsala officially books RCB's playoff spot and tightens their grip on a top-two finish. Gujarat Titans lost to KKR at Eden Gardens on Saturday night and are stuck on 16 points, so RCB head into Match 61 with the easier route to securing the first-place finish before the final group game.
Virat Kohli has rediscovered his form at exactly the right time. After back-to-back ducks in early May, the 37-year-old produced an unbeaten 105 off 60 balls against KKR in Raipur, the kind of innings that resets a campaign. Phil Salt has been a steady opening partner, Patidar has held the middle order together, and Tim David offers the finishing muscle from number five. Krunal Pandya has carried the all-rounder role through every phase of the season and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the new-ball reference point in the bowling unit.
What PBKS need
Survival, in one word. Punjab Kings sit on 13 points with two matches left and were the favourites for a top-four spot three weeks ago. Five consecutive losses have changed all of that. The most recent defeat was particularly cruel: Punjab posted 201 batting first and still surrendered the chase with a ball to spare.
The HPCA Stadium is where PBKS' best can still show up. The two most recent IPL 2026 games at the venue have produced 200-plus scores in all four innings, and Shreyas Iyer's side has the batting power for that kind of fast track. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya are an opening pair that swings games inside three overs when both fire, Iyer himself has been one of the captains of the tournament in pure run-scoring terms, and Shashank Singh remains the finisher the side has built around. The bowling is the problem. Arshdeep Singh has been the lone reliable seamer and Marco Jansen has drifted in and out of effectiveness across the back half of the league phase.
What the head-to-head says
RCB and PBKS have met 37 times in IPL history and Bengaluru lead 19-18. The recent picture is heavily in RCB's favour: they have won the last three meetings between the sides, including the IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 at Mullanpur and the final at Ahmedabad.
Toss and conditions
Dharamsala is expected to play a clean, bat-friendly afternoon with no rain risk and a 3:30 PM IST first ball. The 200-plus scoring across the last two games at the venue and the small boundary dimensions tilt the toss call toward chasing. The captain winning the toss is likely to opt for the field, with confidence in the dew and the boundary maths of the second innings.
There is a quiet symmetry to this fixture. The team that took Punjab's 2025 title charge off them is at Punjab's home with a chance to officially confirm the order of the IPL a year on, while Punjab are fighting to keep the 2025 final from being their last serious playoff conversation for a while. RCB will start clear favourites. Punjab will need their home pitch and a 200-plus innings to start somewhere they have not been for five matches.
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