Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s (left) early swing accounted for PBKS openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh in successive overs. | Photo Credit: RV MOORTHY

Shashank Singh (56, 27b, 4x4, 4x6) refused to bow out without a fight but Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s early strikes rendered enough damage on Punjab Kings to seal Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 23-run win at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday.

Shashank and Marcus Stoinis’ 67-run partnership for the sixth wicket came as a late tease but could not avoid the inevitable. It started with a 20-run over from Suyash Sharma in which Shashank deposited three hits into the sight screen.

He then ramped Krunal Pandya’s novelty, the surprise bouncer over, short third and rubbed it in further with a delicate cut through backward point for another boundary.

HIGHLIGHTS - PBKS vs RCB

Stoinis, put down on 25 by Bethell off Krunal, peppered Bhuvneshwar and Rasikh Dar for three boundaries in the V, leaving PBKS 63 short with 24 balls in hand.

But Stoinis was pinned by a full toss from Josh Hazlewood and Punjab’s late charge fell to an anti-climactic end. The Aussie quick then gave away just seven off the penultimate over to deliver the final nail to PBKS’ Playoffs hopes.

The side ultimately felt the pinch of its vaunted top-order collapsing. Chasing a daunting 223, Bhuvneshwar’s early swing accounted for Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh in successive overs. Shreyas Iyer was once again probed outside off and erred, falling caught behind to Rasikh.

Even with Cooper Connolly and Suryansh Shedge’s thirties, Punjab could only get to 93 for five. It was then that Shashank showed how things were to be done.

In the first innings, Venkatesh Iyer (73, 40b, 8x4, 4x6) lapped up a rare opportunity and notched up an IPL fifty after over a year, thus getting RCB to 222 for four.

After going at less than run-a-ball through his first 10 balls, Venkatesh single-mindedly targeted the on-side to persist till the end.

He was lucky that a misfield from Arshdeep Singh at mid-off got him a boundary but Venkatesh had found his groove after he thumped Harpreet Brar for back-to-back boundaries through mid-wicket in the 14th over.

Off Yuzvendra Chahal in the next over, he cleared his front leg to hammer two sixes over deep midwicket. He was confident enough to shuffle across to his off side and lap Azmatullah Omarzai over fine-leg for two boundaries.

The garnish in his 29-ball fifty came with the 14-run assault off Lockie Ferguson that included two carves over the in-field on off-side.

The ensuing lofty hits from Tim David ticked RCB’s tally to 65 runs from the last five overs and got the side an above-par score.

But the groundwork was again laid by its ever-dependable talisman.

Virat Kohli spelled out his intent with a loft over covers off Omarzai. Ferguson sprayed a length ball on his pads and saw it picked beyond the mid-wicket fence. Jacob Bethell’s cut off Brar’s first delivery hinted at his intention to emulate the approach, but he misjudged the line on the very next ball and chopped a cut onto his stumps.

Devdutt Padikkal had no hesitation in dispatching his first delivery over long on. He was as aggressive against Chahal, to whom he gave the charge and wafted down the ground. In the same over, Kohli used the retreat of his crease to pummel Chahal between long-on and mid-wicket. The garnish in the 21-run over came from Padikkal’s chip into the RCB dugout off a free hit.

Published on May 17, 2026