May 17, 2026 15:37
RCB Live Score: 2nd over
Omarzai with the second over. Swing and miss from Kohli to begin the over. Similar line from Omarzai. Swooped over covers for the first six of the day. Glorious shot!! The PBKS pacer gives away a wide now. Better line now. Dabbed away for a single by Kohli.
May 17, 2026 15:30
RCB innings begins
Virat Kohli and Jacob Bethell take their positions. Arshdeep Singh with the new ball for PBKS. Bethell on strike. Single off the first ball with a gentle tap to covers. Decent bounce off a good length now. Thickish outside edge from Kohli. Lands short of third man. Shreyas has placed himself at short backward point. Interesting catching position.
Hard length. Kohli swipes at it. Inside edge into the body. Single taken. Two more singles from the over. Strong start from Arshdeep.
RCB 4/0 in 1 over
May 17, 2026 15:12
RCB playing XI and impact subs
Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Impact subs- Rasikh Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan
May 17, 2026 15:10
PBKS playing XI and impact subs
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact subs- Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey
May 17, 2026 15:05
Toss update
The big news at the centre is that Jitesh Sharma will stand in as RCB’s captain today. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer wins the toss and opts to bowl first.
“I’m not going by the stats, we just need to trust our abilities to turn around our form. We have been lacking in execution in pressure situations,” says Shreyas.
Two changes for PBKS, Brar and Ferguson are in.
Jitesh says RCB were looking to bowl first as well.
“We are hopeful Rajat will be fit in time for our next game against SRH. Taking it one game at a time, not thinking too far ahead,” Jitesh says.
Two changes for RCB as well, Suyash and Shepherd are in for Patidar and Duffy.
May 17, 2026 14:55
Chasing Advantage
This is the first day game of the season at Dharamsala. Crucially, all ten previous day games in IPL 2026 have been won by the team chasing, making the toss highly influential.
May 17, 2026 14:49
Pitch report
Today’s match will be played on the same strip used for the Delhi Capitals game earlier this week.
Overnight rains have not changed conditions much and the pitch has a thicker covering of grass compared to the DC game, the experts observe. Has all the characteristics of a great batting wicket, expect a run fest, say the experts.
With the sun out, spin could also come into play, the experts conclude.
May 17, 2026 14:45
Tactical Matchup
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer faces a tough matchup against RCB’s bowling attack; he historically struggles against Bhuvneshwar Kumar (strike rate of 90, dismissed 3 times) and Josh Hazlewood (dismissed 4 times in 6 innings).
May 17, 2026 14:29
PBKS' Dharamsala home disadvantage
The HPCA stadium in Dharamsala might be one of the most picturesque grounds in the world but there’s nothing pretty about PBKS’ record here.
In seven matches in Dharamsala since 2023, PBKS has won only once and in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, the team will need to improve that record against RCB today.
May 17, 2026 14:21
PBKS need to get its act together
Its a must win situation for Shreyas Iyer and co today as the team, after enjoying a dream start to the tournament, has gone on a nightmare run in the last five games.
The team cannot afford another loss today to put it bluntly, and the management will hope the team can iron out the flaws it has shown in recent games.
May 17, 2026 14:18
Milestone watch
Shreyas Iyer is captaining his 100th IPL match (spanning stints across DC, KKR, and PBKS). He shares the joint-best win percentage for an IPL captain (min. 60 matches) with MS Dhoni at 58.3%.
Shreyas will become the fifth player to achieve the feat.
May 17, 2026 14:09
At stake
RCB’s: Sitting at No. 1 on the points table, a victory will officially secure a playoff spot for Rajat Patidar’s team. They could potentially secure a top-two finish by winning two of their remaining three games.
PBKS: After leading the table for a significant portion of the tournament, PBKS has slipped to 4th place following five consecutive losses.
May 17, 2026 14:02
Last time out- RCB become champions for the first time ever
Today’s clash is a repeat of last seasons final, when RCB emerged as champions for the first ever.
Batting first, RCB posted 190 on the board before the bowling unit, led by Krunal Pandya’s economical spell and twin strikes, helped RCB win by seven runs and end its long wait for the coveted trophy.
May 17, 2026 13:50
RCB squad
Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, Josh Hazlewood, Jacob Duffy, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Philip Salt, Richard Gleeson, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Vicky Ostwal, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal
May 17, 2026 13:50
PBKS squad
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad
May 17, 2026 13:45
Good afternoon!
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the IPL 2026 match between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Dharamsala.
Stay with us as we bring you all the live updates from this all important clash.
Published on May 17, 2026
