Toss & Conditions

Head-to-Head

Across the last three meetings, KKR lead 2-1. In the most recent match, RCB beat KKR by 7 wickets and finished the chase with 22 balls remaining. The game was decided by how quickly RCB completed the chase after KKR made 174/8. The other two matches in that three-game set went KKR’s way, including a 1-run win and a 7-wicket win with 19 balls remaining.

KKKolkata Knight Riders 174/8

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 177/3

2025-03-22 · RCB won by 7 wickets (with 22 balls remaining)

KKKolkata Knight Riders 222/6

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 221/10

2024-04-21 · KKR won by 1 run

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 182/6

KKKolkata Knight Riders 186/3

2024-03-29 · KKR won by 7 wickets (with 19 balls remaining)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

RCB are #2 in the IPL regular season on 14 points and are currently in the playoff zone. Their last match was a 2-wicket win over Mumbai Indians that went to the final ball. Before that, they lost two straight, including a 9-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants decided by the DLS method.

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 167/9

MIMumbai Indians 166/7

2026-05-10 · RCB won by 2 wickets (with 0 ball remaining)

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 203/6

LSLucknow Super Giants 209/3

2026-05-07 · LSG won by 9 runs (DLS method)

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 155/10

GTGujarat Titans 158/6

2026-04-30 · GT won by 4 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR are #8 in the IPL regular season on 9 points. They come in on a three-match winning run, including an 8-wicket win over Delhi Capitals with 34 balls remaining. That sequence also includes a tied match against Lucknow Super Giants that KKR won via a Super Over.

KKKolkata Knight Riders 147/2

DCDelhi Capitals 142/8

2026-05-08 · KKR won by 8 wickets (with 34 balls remaining)

KKKolkata Knight Riders 169/3

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 165/10

2026-05-03 · KKR won by 7 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

KKKolkata Knight Riders 155/7

LSLucknow Super Giants 155/8

2026-04-26 · Match tied (KKR won the Super Over)

Playing XI

News & Facts

Key Stats

Verdict

Models are split but lean RCB, with RCB at 53% on average; ML, AI 1 and AI 2 back RCB while the Math model favours KKR. Bookmakers also side with RCB, pricing them at 64% (1.52) vs KKR at 36% (2.60). Key stats overall favour RCB 5-2, driven by the points/NRR/Elo edge, while KKR’s recent H2H edge and last-three-match streak pull the other way. The result is likely to hinge on whether KKR’s current momentum outweighs RCB’s season-level advantage.

Kohli owns the chase

Virat Kohli didn’t just pace a pursuit, he dictated it—absorbing the early noise, then accelerating until the target looked negotiable. Chasing 193, RCB rode his 105 off 60 to win by six wickets with five balls remaining, even as KKR kept landing punches through the middle. When wickets threatened to drag the chase into a scramble, Kohli’s calm boundary-hunting ensured the finish arrived before the last over could become a lottery.

Powerplay sets the platform

The game tilted in the first six overs of RCB’s chase. Their 66/1 powerplay (run-rate 11.0) immediately flipped the pressure back onto KKR’s bowlers, who had just watched their own top order stutter to 56/2. That early surge meant RCB could afford a quieter middle without losing sight of the equation, and it blunted KKR’s main route back: squeezing the chase and forcing risk against the spinners.

Kohli, Raghuvanshi trade blows

Kohli was the difference, not only for the hundred but for when he chose to shift gears after the halfway mark. For KKR, Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 71 off 46 and Rinku Singh’s 49 off 29 powered them to 192/4 and kept the contest tight. Kartik Tyagi’s 3/32 created the late wobble, but Kohli’s control of the key moments ultimately outlasted it.

Momentum meets season edge

Pre-match talk centred on whether KKR’s three-match winning streak and away form could outweigh RCB’s broader season advantage. KKR did bring that confidence with a strong middle phase (97/1), but RCB’s higher ceiling showed in the moments that matter most in chases: a fast start and a set anchor. Once Kohli carried his innings deep, KKR’s momentum never translated into the kind of sustained squeeze that turns 190-plus chases into panic.