Summary of this article
Venkatesh Iyer walked away with the POTM for his 40-ball 73
RCB hammered 222 on the board against a struggling PBKS
Punjab Kings' hopes of qualifying for the play-offs hang by a thread
Venkatesh Iyer scored a 40-ball 73 and Virat Kohli hit a 37-ball 58 as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by 23 runs to become the first team to qualify for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Sunday.
Sent into bat, RCB registered a massive 222/4 in 20 overs. In reply, PBKS were restricted to 199/8 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar again impressing with the ball in his hand (2/38).
For Shreyas Iyer-led side, this was their sixth straight defeat and leaves them in fourth spot with 13 points from 13 games. They must now win their final league game against a rejuvenated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and hope for other results to go their way.
RCB's Virat Kohli hit his fourth half-century of the season which included three sixes and four fours overall, putting on 76 runs for the second wicket off 41 balls with Devdutt Padikkal (45). Iyer and Kohli then came together to add 60 off 35, before Kohli was caught off Yuzvendra Chahal in the 15th over.
Venkatesh Iyer - Player of the Match
The Player of the Match award went to Venkatesh Iyer for his brilliant 40-ball 73. The batter took time to settle in and along with Kohli, blasted the PBKS bowlers to all corners of the HPCA stadium. It was down to Iyer's batting brilliance that RCB achieved a massive score of 222 on the board.
With RCB through to the play-offs, it remains to be seen whether they decide to rotate or not for their final game against SRH on Friday, May 22.
