Royal Challengers Bengaluru lead Punjab Kings 19–18 across 37 IPL meetings — a lead built entirely on the 2025 season, when RCB won three of four encounters including a six-run victory in the IPL final at Ahmedabad that handed the franchise their first-ever title. The two sides meet for the 38th time today, 17 May 2026, at Dharamsala, in a match that could seal RCB’s playoff spot and end PBKS’s five-game losing streak — or bury it.
Punjab Kings
18
WinsVS
Total37
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
19
WinsPBKS vs RCB — At a Glance
- Total matches: 37 | RCB 19 wins · PBKS 18 wins · 0 ties · 0 no-results
- First meeting: 5 May 2008, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru (PBKS won by 6 wkts)
- Last meeting: 3 June 2025, IPL Final, Ahmedabad (RCB won by 6 runs)
- RCB highest total: 241/7 (Dharamsala, IPL 2024) | PBKS highest: 232/2 (Dharamsala, 2011)
- PBKS lowest: 88 all out (Bengaluru, 2015) | RCB lowest: 84 (rain-reduced, 10-over match)
- Top run-scorer: Virat Kohli — 1,159 runs in 37 innings
- Top wicket-taker: Yuzvendra Chahal — 29 wickets (RCB + PBKS stints combined)
Stat Deep Dive
Here is the number that defines this rivalry: for 17 seasons and 36 meetings, PBKS and RCB were locked at 18 wins apiece — not one team ever pulled more than two matches clear. Then IPL 2025 arrived, and RCB played PBKS four times in a single edition. They won three of those four, including a Qualifier 1 where they bowled Punjab out for 101, and the final itself by the narrowest of margins. One season rewrote a 17-year deadlock. That IPL 2025 campaign also gave RCB their maiden title — check the complete IPL final winners list to see just how long they waited. The edge now belongs to Bengaluru, and Punjab need today to start clawing it back.
PBKS vs RCB: How the Rivalry Has Swung Era to Era
| Phase | Seasons | Trend | Defining Moment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punjab’s Foundation | 2008–2011 | PBKS led | Won first 3 meetings; Gilchrist’s 106, 111-run win (2011) |
| PBKS Peak | 2012–2014 | 5-match PBKS streak | Punjab’s longest winning run in this fixture |
| RCB Strikes Back | 2015–2019 | RCB dominant | Gayle’s 117, 138-run win (2015); 10-wkt win in Indore (2018) |
| Punjab Fights Back | 2020–2022 | PBKS regained ground | KL Rahul 132* off 69 balls, 97-run win (Dubai 2020) |
| RCB’s Decade | 2023–2025 | RCB dominant; 7 wins | Qualifier 1 (PBKS 101 all out); IPL Final by 6 runs |
| All-Time | 2008–2025 | RCB 19–18 | 37 matches · 0 ties · 0 no-results |
Top Performers in PBKS vs RCB History
No batter in IPL history has scored more runs against a single opponent than Virat Kohli has against Punjab. His 1,159-run tally across 37 innings — a figure you can break down inning-by-inning in our Kohli vs PBKS complete head-to-head stats — includes a 92 off 47 in Dharamsala in 2024 that powered RCB to 241/7 and a win by 60 runs. The highest individual score in the fixture, though, belongs to a Punjab man: KL Rahul’s unbeaten 132 off 69 balls in Dubai in 2020, laced with 14 fours and 7 sixes, took PBKS to 206/3 and a 97-run win.
| Batter | Runs | Best Score | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 1,159 | 92 (2024, Dharamsala) | RCB |
| Chris Gayle | 873 | 117 off 57 balls (2015) | RCB / PBKS |
| AB de Villiers | 718 | — | RCB |
| KL Rahul | — | 132* off 69 balls (2020) | PBKS |
| Bowler | Wickets | Best Figures | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 29 | — | RCB → PBKS |
| Sandeep Sharma | 16 | — | PBKS |
| Harshal Patel | 16 | — | PBKS / RCB |
| Sreenath Aravind | — | 4/14 (2011, Bengaluru) | RCB |
Biggest Wins: Record Margins on Each Side
RCB’s Biggest Wins
By runs (138): May 2015, Bengaluru. Chris Gayle smashed 117 off 57 balls as RCB posted 226/3. Punjab, chasing 227, were bowled out for 88 — their lowest total in this fixture. RCB won by 138 runs.
By wickets (10): 2018, Indore. RCB chased an 89-run target without losing a wicket — the most clinical win in the fixture’s history.
PBKS’s Biggest Wins
By runs (111): 2011, Dharamsala. Adam Gilchrist hit 106 off 55 balls; Shaun Marsh added an unbeaten 79. The pair put on 206 for the second wicket. PBKS posted 232/2 and bowled RCB out for 121.
By wickets (9): 2009, away. After restricting RCB to 143/8, Punjab chased it down with nine wickets in hand, Shaun Marsh guiding the chase with 74* off 51.
Form Going Into Match 38 — Dharamsala, 17 May 2026
Punjab Kings
Blistering start — six wins in seven — then a complete collapse: five consecutive defeats and counting. Their latest loss came to Mumbai Indians at this very Dharamsala ground, failing to defend a total of 201. PBKS sit fourth on the table with 13 points from 12 matches, needing to win both remaining fixtures to guarantee a top-four finish. See the Punjab Kings’ full IPL 2026 tracker.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Defending champions, sitting at the top of the table. Eight wins from 12 matches — one more puts them into the playoffs. Virat Kohli has 387 runs in IPL 2026 at a strike rate of 163.98, including a 60-ball hundred against KKR in Raipur. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood will enjoy the seam-friendly surface here. Full picture at the RCB IPL 2026 campaign tracker.
People describe this as cricket’s most perfectly balanced rivalry, and statistically they’re right — 18-all across 36 matches, zero ties, zero no-results. But that framing misses the real story. The balance existed because both clubs spent 17 seasons being good enough to beat each other and not quite good enough to beat everyone else. The 2025 season broke the spell in the most dramatic way imaginable: four meetings, a Qualifier 1 demolition where Punjab folded for 101, and a six-run final that only ended because Krunal Pandya held his nerve in the last over of IPL’s biggest night.
Today at Dharamsala, the stakes are lower in title terms but higher for PBKS’s season. A side that can’t defend 200-plus targets — and has lost five straight — faces a Kohli who already has a century in this edition and who has scored 1,159 runs against these same bowlers over the years. I don’t see Punjab stopping RCB today. The trend of the last two years is too strong, and momentum — or the complete absence of it — matters at this point in the season.
PBKS vs RCB — Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the PBKS vs RCB head-to-head in IPL history?
RCB lead 19–18 across 37 IPL meetings. The teams were level at 18-all until IPL 2025, when RCB won three of four encounters — including the final — to take a one-match lead for the first time in the rivalry’s history.
What happened in the IPL 2025 final between PBKS and RCB?
RCB won by 6 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 3 June 2025. Punjab won the toss and chose to field; RCB posted 190/9 with Kohli contributing 43. PBKS fell short at 184/7 — Krunal Pandya’s 2/17 proving the difference in a last-over finish that gave RCB their maiden IPL title after 18 years.
Who is the top run-scorer in PBKS vs RCB matches?
Virat Kohli leads with 1,159 runs across 37 innings for RCB — the most by any batter against a single IPL opponent. The highest individual score in the fixture, though, belongs to KL Rahul: 132 not out off 69 balls for PBKS in Dubai in 2020, steering Punjab to a 97-run win.
What are the highest and lowest team totals in this fixture?
RCB’s 241/7 at Dharamsala in IPL 2024 — Kohli’s 92 at the top — is the highest team total. PBKS’s best is 232/2 in 2011 at the same venue, anchored by Gilchrist’s 106. PBKS’s lowest is 88 all out in 2015 at Bengaluru, when RCB won by a record 138 runs.
Bottom Line
For 36 matches across 17 IPL seasons, neither franchise could put daylight between themselves in this rivalry. Then RCB did it in four matches, across two months, on the biggest stage in Indian cricket. The H2H edge they hold is slender — one match — but it came from winning the one that mattered most. Today’s clash at Dharamsala writes the next line: either PBKS make it 19-all and reset the story, or RCB extend to 20-18 and make this rivalry theirs for the first time in history. Check our PBKS vs RCB Dream11 prediction for today for full fantasy picks and analysis for today’s match.
