<p>Defending champions <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rcb">Royal Challengers Bengaluru</a> became the first team to seal the Playoffs spot as they sealed a comprehensive 23-run victory over the Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dharamshala">Dharamshala</a> on Sunday.</p><p>With a strong Net Run Rate, the win has all but sealed a top-two spot, giving RCB two shots at the final. </p><p>This was PBKS' sixth straight defeat and their qualification now hangs by a thread after having been undefeated in the first seven matches. </p><p>Put in to bat, RCB had another poor start from Jacob Bethell as Harpreet Brar castled him in the third over. However, it was Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal who stitched good partnership once again to bail the visitors out of trouble. </p><p>The duo added 76 runs for the second wicket before Brar struck again to dismiss Padikkal for 45. He had struck four fours and three maximums. Kohli went on to register another half-century in the season, before he was eventually dismissed by the wily Yuzvendra Chahal for 58 runs. </p>.IPL 2026 | Virat Kohli's splendid ton propels RCB to top; pushes KKR to the brink .<p>The star of the show was Venkatesh Iyer, who was playing at No. 4 in Rajat Patidar's absence. The southpaw thrashed an unbeaten 73 off just 40 balls, including eight fours and four sixes to power RCB past 200. </p><p>It was Tim David's explosive finishing touches that carried the team to 222/4 at the end of 20 overs.</p><p>Bhuvneshwar Kumar worked his new ball magic once again as he accounted for Priyansh Arya on the third ball of the innings, before removing the other opener, Prabhsimran Singh in his second over. </p><p>Rasikh Dar bowled a peach to Shreyas Iyer as RCB struck thrice in the powerplay. Cooper Connolly looked threatening for a brief while, before throwing his wicket away in an attempt to score quickly. </p><p>Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis stitched a quick partnership before the latter was dismissed off a Josh Hazlewood full toss. </p><p>Singh battled alone, scoring 56 runs from 27 balls, including four fours and as many big hits. </p><p>Dar had a good day with the ball, claiming three wickets, while Kumar had the two early breakthroughs as PBKS were restricted to 199/8. </p>
<p>Defending champions <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rcb">Royal Challengers Bengaluru</a> became the first team to seal the Playoffs spot as they sealed a comprehensive 23-run victory over the Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dharamshala">Dharamshala</a> on Sunday.</p><p>With a strong Net Run Rate, the win has all but sealed a top-two spot, giving RCB two shots at the final. </p><p>This was PBKS' sixth straight defeat and their qualification now hangs by a thread after having been undefeated in the first seven matches. </p><p>Put in to bat, RCB had another poor start from Jacob Bethell as Harpreet Brar castled him in the third over. However, it was Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal who stitched good partnership once again to bail the visitors out of trouble. </p><p>The duo added 76 runs for the second wicket before Brar struck again to dismiss Padikkal for 45. He had struck four fours and three maximums. Kohli went on to register another half-century in the season, before he was eventually dismissed by the wily Yuzvendra Chahal for 58 runs. </p>.IPL 2026 | Virat Kohli's splendid ton propels RCB to top; pushes KKR to the brink .<p>The star of the show was Venkatesh Iyer, who was playing at No. 4 in Rajat Patidar's absence. The southpaw thrashed an unbeaten 73 off just 40 balls, including eight fours and four sixes to power RCB past 200. </p><p>It was Tim David's explosive finishing touches that carried the team to 222/4 at the end of 20 overs.</p><p>Bhuvneshwar Kumar worked his new ball magic once again as he accounted for Priyansh Arya on the third ball of the innings, before removing the other opener, Prabhsimran Singh in his second over. </p><p>Rasikh Dar bowled a peach to Shreyas Iyer as RCB struck thrice in the powerplay. Cooper Connolly looked threatening for a brief while, before throwing his wicket away in an attempt to score quickly. </p><p>Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis stitched a quick partnership before the latter was dismissed off a Josh Hazlewood full toss. </p><p>Singh battled alone, scoring 56 runs from 27 balls, including four fours and as many big hits. </p><p>Dar had a good day with the ball, claiming three wickets, while Kumar had the two early breakthroughs as PBKS were restricted to 199/8. </p>
