Venkatesh and Kohli set up 222 as RCB beat PBKS by 23 runs and seal the first IPL 2026 playoffs spot
Royal Challengers Bengaluru hit the front of the IPL 2026 queue on Sunday. A 222 for 4 at the HPCA Stadium, anchored by Venkatesh Iyer's unbeaten 73 and Virat Kohli's 58, gave them a cushion that Punjab Kings never quite threatened to clear. The 23-run win at Dharamsala sealed RCB's playoffs berth and stretched PBKS's losing run to six.
Asked to bat after Shreyas Iyer won the toss, RCB built their innings in three layers. Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, who chipped in with 45, set the platform. Venkatesh Iyer kept the rate up through the middle overs. Tim David's 28 from 12 balls at the death pushed the total past 220.
PBKS chase the wrong end of a tough total
Punjab Kings needed 223, and for a while the chase looked alive. Marcus Stoinis dropped anchor for 37 off 25 before Josh Hazlewood pinned him in front. Shashank Singh's fifty off 22 balls kept the dressing room watching, but the hits never stacked in the overs that mattered. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rasikh Salam Dar shared the early breakthroughs and the asking rate did the rest.
Top of the table, top of the queue
RCB's ninth win of the season moves them to 18 points from 13 games and leaves them clear at the top while everyone else is still doing the maths. They are the first team into the IPL 2026 playoffs. PBKS, who lost the 2025 final to the same opponents, now sit fourth on 13 points with their margin shrinking match by match.
For Bengaluru it is also a clean tactical run-out before the knockouts. Venkatesh Iyer's form has paid for itself across recent games, Kohli and Padikkal are in rhythm at the top, and Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar look settled at the new and old ball. There is still the matter of which playoff position they finish in, but at least they get to play that out from in front.
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