Holders Bengaluru book playoff berth, Punjab stare at elimination

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) became the first team to secure an IPL playoffs berth with an all-round performance against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala on Sunday.

Half centuries from Virat Kohli (58 off 37) and Venkatesh Iyer (73 not out off 40) helped RCB to a solid 222/4 in 20 overs before pacer Rasikh Salam’s 3/36 restricted Punjab to 199/8. Two of Salam's three wickets fell in the last over, with Shashank Singh falling on 56 off 27.

Bhuvneshwar (2/38) had started the assault by removing Punjab openers Priyansh Arya (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (2) early.

Fresh from a record-extending century, Kohli scored his 67th IPL fifty and, more importantly, stitched a 76-run stand with Devdutt Padikkal for the second wicket. He also forged a 60-run stand for the third wicket with Iyer.

While RCB celebrate their berth in the playoffs, Punjab were left frustrated after a sixth straight defeat that has threatened to derail their chance of entering the knockouts after being frontrunners for a while.

“Frustrating, to be honest. We are staring it in the face now. There's still hope, but we need to turn it around. We need to tidy up some areas. I felt, with the ball, we didn't create enough opportunities early,” said Punjab Kings' fast bowling coach James Hopes.