It was a thrilling evening at Dharamsala with an exciting contest between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 61st match of IPL 2026. The game occurred on 17 May 2026 at the stunning Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
The two teams came into the match with powerful starting sides and high hopes. Winning the toss, Punjab Kings opted to bowl first. But the batting-friendly conditions were used to perfection by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and went on to post a mammoth total of 222 runs at the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.
Punjab Kings, despite putting up a valiant fight during the chase and even attacking in pulses, folded for 199 runs for eight wickets. With a team effort from both bat and ball, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the match by 23 runs.
Explosive batting, key partnerships, astute bowling changes and some spectacular moments made sure that this tie kept the fans entertained till the final over.
Match Information
| Match Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | PBKS vs RCB, 61st Match |
| Tournament | Indian Premier League 2026 |
| Date | 17 May 2026 |
| Venue | Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Toss | Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to bowl |
| Result | Royal Challengers Bengaluru won by 23 runs |
| Umpires | Adrian Holdstock, KN Anantha Padmanabhan |
| Third Umpire | Parashar Joshi |
| Match Referee | Pankaj Dharmani |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Innings Summary
RCB took a pretty aggressive stance from the get-go. Jacob Bethell made a short-lived cameo before falling to Harpreet Brar. The veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal steadied the ship after losing the first wicket.
Virat Kohli continued his fine form, getting 58 off 37 balls. He played some elegant drives, a few powerful pull shots, and rotated the strike extremely intelligently. His innings had four boundaries and three sixes.
Devdutt Padikkal at the top gave him ample support by making 45 off just 25 balls. RCB was in a good scoring rate during the middle overs mainly due to his aggressive batting.
The bowlers made their mark, but unsurprisingly the larger impact came with the bat and from Venkatesh Iyer, who played one of the better innings of the season. He ended at 73 not out from 40 balls. His innings comprised eight fours and four sixes. He hammered nearly every bowler and turned the series around in the death overs.
Tim David also made a useful finishing effort with 28 off just 12 balls. Bengaluru scored more than 220 runs in their innings thanks to his bludgeoning efforts.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Batting Scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Bethell | b Harpreet Brar | 11 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 157.14 |
| Virat Kohli | c Priyansh Arya b Yuzvendra Chahal | 58 | 37 | 4 | 3 | 156.76 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | c Shreyas Iyer b Harpreet Brar | 45 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 180.00 |
| Venkatesh Iyer | not out | 73 | 40 | 8 | 4 | 182.50 |
| Tim David | c Harpreet Brar b Arshdeep Singh | 28 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 233.33 |
| Extras | 7 | |||||
| Total | 4 wickets in 20 overs | 222 |
Punjab Kings Bowling Scorecard
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.80 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 |
| Harpreet Brar | 4 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 8.80 |
| Lockie Ferguson | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 14.30 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 3 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 14.00 |
| Shashank Singh | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 10.00 |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Fall of Wickets
| Wicket | Score | Over |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Bethell | 21-1 | 2.2 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 97-2 | 9.1 |
| Virat Kohli | 157-3 | 14.6 |
| Tim David | 222-4 | 19.6 |
Punjab Kings Run Chase
Punjab Kings were set a mammoth target of 223 runs and they needed to make a good start in their innings. It was followed by Priyansh Arya’s duck and a failure from Prabhsimran Singh as well. Captain Shreyas Iyer also fell for a solitary run, exposing the team to tremendous pressure early on.
Cooper Connolly and Suryansh Shedge slowly attempted to rebuild the inning after a top-order collapse. The two batters pinged balls around the park and kept the required run rate in check for quite a while.
Cooper Connolly chipped in with a 22-ball blitz of 37, while Suryansh Shedge added valuable runs as well from 35 off of just 22 deliveries.
Marcus Stoinis also scored a respectable 37 but PBKS needed something special to win the match.
That inning was from Shashank Singh. He bashed 56 runs from just 27 balls and played with full swagger. He had hit four fours and four sixes during his innings. He almost brought Punjab Kings back in the game with his attacking shot-making.
But the run rate proved to be too high in the closing overs. But it was the breakthrough of Shashank Singh by Rasikh Salam Dar in ’19, which put paid to Punjab Kings’ hopes.
Punjab Kings Batting Scorecard
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priyansh Arya | c Romario Shepherd b Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Prabhsimran Singh | c Devdutt Padikkal b Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Cooper Connolly | c Jacob Bethell b Romario Shepherd | 37 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 168.18 |
| Shreyas Iyer | c Jitesh Sharma b Rasikh Salam Dar | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Suryansh Shedge | c Virat Kohli b Suyash Sharma | 35 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 159.09 |
| Marcus Stoinis | lbw by Josh Hazlewood | 37 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 148.00 |
| Shashank Singh | c Virat Kohli b Rasikh Salam Dar | 56 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 207.41 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | c Tim David b Rasikh Salam Dar | 14 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 140.00 |
| Harpreet Brar | not out | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Extras | 12 | |||||
| Total | 8 wickets in 20 overs | 199 |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Bowling Scorecard
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 4 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 9.50 |
| Josh Hazlewood | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 |
| Rasikh Salam Dar | 4 | 0 | 36 | 3 | 9.00 |
| Suyash Sharma | 4 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 12.50 |
| Romario Shepherd | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8.00 |
| Krunal Pandya | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 9.00 |
Punjab Kings Fall of Wickets
| Wicket | Score | Over |
|---|---|---|
| Priyansh Arya | 1-1 | 0.3 |
| Prabhsimran Singh | 18-2 | 2.5 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 19-3 | 3.2 |
| Cooper Connolly | 62-4 | 7.3 |
| Suryansh Shedge | 93-5 | 10.5 |
| Marcus Stoinis | 160-6 | 16.1 |
| Shashank Singh | 194-7 | 19.2 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 1998 | 19.6 |
Important Moments of the Match
One of the monumental partnerships in this tour is that which occurred between Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. Both batters played cautiously and provided a solid start for RCB.
Bengaluru had the game with both hands as Venkatesh Iyer had just torn it apart in their finishing innings. With the attacking batting in the later overs, he took his team IPL 2026 to upwards of 220.
Punjab Kings were done in by wickets at regular intervals. After all, the pressure of losing three wickets within the first four overs never lifted after their chase.
Rasikh Salam Dar then ended any hopes Punjab Kings had after sending Shashank Singh (goes for 52 off just 24 balls) back to the pavilion with a right-time wicket.
Best Performers
Venkatesh Iyer
The RCB batter was the player of the match with an unbeaten 73 off 40 balls.
Virat Kohli
Kohli held the innings together and managed to score a classy 58.
Shashank Singh
The PBKS batter entertained fans with some fearless batting until the last moment.
Rasikh Salam Dar
The fast bowler broke the backbone of the game, removing three biggies.
Match Conclusion
The 61st match, Dharamsala, 17 May 2026, Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, was full of complete entertainment for cricket fans. It was a high-scoring game, with strong-hitting aplenty and lots of wickets falling and moments of drama.
RCB seemed a more balanced outfit and dealt with pressure situations better than PBKS. In the end, it came down to their much-touted batting order and efficient bowling.
It was a night with a mix of IPL action and excitement that fans experienced at Dharamsala.
FAQs
Q1. Who won the PBKS vs RCB 61st Match IPL 2026?
Answer: Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the match by 23 runs.
Q2. Where was the match played?
Answer: The match was played at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala.
Q3. Who scored the highest runs in the match?
Answer:
Q4. How many runs did Virat Kohli score?
Answer: Virat Kohli scored 58 runs from 37 balls.
Q5. What was RCB’s final score?
Answer: Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 222 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs.