Royal Challengers Bengaluru 222 for 4 (Venkatesh 73*, Kohli 58, Padikkal 45, Brar 2-35) beat Punjab Kings 199 for 8 (Shashank 56, Connolly 37, Rasikh 3-36, Bhuvneshwar 2-38) by 23 runs
RCB dominate powerplay
Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar struck with his second ball, but that was the only wicket PBKS managed in a powerplay dominated by RCB. Jacob Bethell’s patchy form with the bat continued as he inside-edged Brar and lost his off bail. But Devdutt Padikkal was at his aggressive best. He lifted Brar first ball over the long-off fence for six before nudging Lockie Ferguson through fine leg.
Kohli, at the other end, was fluent as well. He hit Azmatullah Omarzai for six over extra cover, albeit not off the middle of the bat, before welcoming Ferguson into the bowling crease with a trademark flick of the wrists over deep midwicket. Arshdeep was also scythed over square leg with RCB ending the powerplay on 61 for 1.
Kohli and Padikkal shore up RCB
Kohli reached 500 runs in an IPL season for a record ninth time and soon notched up another half-century, his fourth of IPL 2026, along with a century. It wasn’t the most fluent Kohli innings but he still struck at 156.75, with four fours and three sixes adding 76 off 42 balls for the second wicket with Padikkal, who was in sublime form again. He hit Yuzvendra Chahal for two sixes in the seventh over and then attacked Omarzai before falling to Brar. Kohli brought out his trademark flick if the wrists to send Shashank over cow corner but fell soon after reaching fifty flicking Chahal to deep midwicket.
A Venky Iyer special
Venkatesh has had limited chances this season. Twice he has come in as an Impact Player and in the one game he was in the starting XI, he didn’t bat. He looked out of sorts initially, was on 9 off 10 but one misfield from Arshdeep Singh at mid-off and his innings took flight. He hit Brar for back-to-back fours and then took Chahal for two sixes.
With RCB on 157 for 3, Venkatesh hit top gear. He scooped Omarzai twice in two balls, and then took on Ferguson for 6, 4, 0, 6 to reach his fifty off just 29 balls. This was Venkatesh’s first fifty for RCB and helped RCB go past the 200 mark – the ninth time that PBKS conceded a 200-plus total this season. Tim David didn’t hang back in the death, finishing on 28 off 12 as RCB put up an above-par score.
PBKS’ horror start
To chase down RCB’s 222, a Prabharya special was required. But the duo lasted a combined eight balls. To make matters worse, Shreyas Iyer fell for just 1 with PBKS’ chase falling apart even before properly beginning. Bhuvneshwar sent back Priyansh Arya with a hard length ball that was swiped to mid-on in the first over. He then had Prabhsimran Singh toe-edging to first slip before a lovely Rasikh outswinger accounted for Shreyas Iyer. At 19 for 3 in 3.2 overs, PBKS, to put it mildly, were in a hole.
Cooper Connolly and Shedge counterattacked and succeeded to an extent. Josh Hazlewood was taken for 26 off his first two overs, while Rasikh went for 11 off his second but PBKS only managed 49 for 3 in their powerplay with the required rate ballooning to 12.42.
Shashank fights but PBKS lose six in six
Connolly fell to Romario Shepherd and soon after, Shedge was snapped up by Suyash Sharma. At 95 for 5 in the 11th over, the game looked as good as done. But Shashank, who has had a tournament to forget so far, raised PBKS’ hopes. He smashed Suyash for three sixes in the 13th over, took on Krunal Pandya in the next and helicoptered Bhuvneshwar over cow corner to reach a 22-ball fifty but the required rate continued to go out of hand. When Stoinis fell lbw to a knee-high Hazlewood delivery, the game was as good as done.
Shashank and Omarzai delayed the inevitable but both fell in the last over as PBKS failed to even reach 200. Ricky Ponting’s forlorn look sitting alone in the dugout after the game had a story to tell. PBKS were on 13 points after seven games. Thirteen games into the season, they are still on 13.
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
