RCB books IPL playoff spot while DC hold their nerve against RR

RCB dominated their clash against PJBKS from start to finish, outclassing them with bat and ball as Punjab's collapse in the 2026 IPL continued.

Bengaluru batted first and smashed their way to 222/4 from their 20 overs, thanks to rollicking half-centuries from Virat Kohli, who hit a well-constructed 58 off 37 balls, and Venkatesh Iyer, who was the star of the innings with 73 off just 40 balls.

They were ably supported by Devdutt Padikkal (45 off 25 balls) and Tim David (28 off 12 balls), with all five batters who came to the crease getting into double figures.

Harpeet Brar was by far the best bowler for Punjab, returning figures of 2/35 from his four overs, with everyone else going for more than nine runs an over.

Yuzendra Chahal and Lockie Ferguson really struggled, with both going for over 40 runs despite only bowling three overs each.

PBKS's run chase got off to the worst possible start with Priyansh Arya going for a duck in the first over and Prabhsimran Singh following shortly afterwards for just two.

There was some fight lower down the order, with Suryansh Shedge getting 35 off 22 balls, Marcus Stoinis hitting 37 off 25 balls and Shashank Singh blasting 56 off 27 balls, but it was all too little too late as they fell to a 23-run defeat.

Rasikh Salam starred with the ball for the Royal Challengers with figures of 3/36 from his four overs, including the key wicket of Singh.

In the other game on Sunday, the Delhi Capitals chased down the 193 total set by Rajasthan with just four balls to spare.

RR batted first and got off to a great start with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (46 off 21 balls), Dhruv Jurel (53 off 40 balls) and Riyan Parag (51 off 26 balls) all getting scores, but a collapse in the second half of their innings curtailed the total they were able to set.

Mitchell Starc showed once again why he is regarded as one of the premier fast bowlers in the world by picking up the key wickets of Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Ravi Singh and Dasun Shanaka, even though he was a bit expensive in conceding 40 runs.

Lungi Ngidi was exceptionally tight, going for just 24 runs in his four overs while also picking up two wickets.

In response, Abishek Porel and KL Rahul got the Capitals off to a flyer, both scoring over 50 in building an opening partnership of 105 runs.

A middle-order wobble made things closer than they perhaps should have been but a brisk 34 off 18 balls from Axar Patel helped DC get over the line in the final over of their innings.

Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers for RR, returning figures of 2/35 from his four overs, while everyone else struggled.

Adam Milne struggled to find his length and went for 41 runs in 3.2 overs, including 10 runs off the only two balls he bowled in the final over of the innings.

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