On Match 57 at Raipur, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders, the most awaited rivalry on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.
Most people’s eyes are on the RCB vs KKR live cricket score, full timeline, where to watch, pitch report, playing11, prediction, and what the standings mean for both sides heading into Raipur.
KKR once skittled RCB for 49, and this rivalry has never really been polite. Check back here for the RCB vs KKR preview and a full stats breakdown as the IPL 2026 playoff race hits its most important week.
The RCB vs KKR IPL 2026 match is precisely what the playoff chase required: a leading team with declining performance facing a team that has unexpectedly improved.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru sit first with 14 points, seven wins from eleven. But “first” feels shakier than it sounds. Virat Kohli has back-to-back ducks, and two wins ago, they needed Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s last-ball six to scrape past Mumbai.
That’s not the body language of a team cruising. One more win effectively books their playoff seat — two, and they sleep easy.
Kolkata Knight Riders are doing this the hard way—six straight losses to start the season, then four straight wins to claw back. Finn Allen just hammered a century against Delhi. Sunil Narine’s going at 6.51 an over.
Their batting has averaged just 4.5 dismissals per innings across the winning run — clinical doesn’t cover it. But Varun Chakravarthy, their 10-wicket menace in the last five games, is a fitness doubt after injuring his foot in Delhi.
Historically, this rivalry runs deep — KKR once bowled RCB out for 49. Today’s RCB vs KKR 2026 standings and form tell a different story, but Raipur’s slow, low surface makes this anyone’s game.
Kohli needs 78 runs for 14,000 T20 runs. The stage is set.
Where to Watch Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match
| Match | Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Stadium | Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Raipur |
| Date & Time | Wednesday, May 13, 07:30 P.M. (IST) |
| Live Streaming | JioHotstar |
RCB vs KKR Head to Head Records
| Matches | 36 |
| RCB Wons | 15 |
| KKR Wons | 21 |
| Tie | Nil |
| No Result | Nil |
| At M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB 4, KKR 9 |
| At Eden Gardens | RCB 5, KKR 8 |
| Neutral Stadium | RCB 6, KKR 4 NR 1 |
Pitch Report
The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur is serving up a tricky, balanced deck for the RCB vs KKR clash. Expect a typical black-soil wicket that starts relatively firm but quickly turns slow and low as the game progresses.
With some of the largest boundaries in India, batters can’t just muscle every ball for six; they’ll need to work the gaps and run hard. The average first-innings score here is hovering around 155, making anything above 170 feel like a match-winning total.
Interestingly, 2026 has been the year of the chase in Raipur. Chasing teams have won most of the matches so far, because of the heavy evening dew that makes the ball a “soapy bar” for bowlers in the second half.
Weather Report
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 57 of the IPL 2026 on Wednesday in Raipur. It will be slight cloudy.
The temperatures are expected to hover around 32°C-39°C. The humidity will be 30%-43%, and the wind will blow from the northeast at 11 km/h. There will be no possibility of rain.
RCB vs KKR Playing 11 (Predicted)
RCB Playing 11
Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell / Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(C), Jitesh Sharma (WK) , Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar
Impact Player – Suyash Sharma / Venkatesh Iyer
KKR Playing 11
Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(C), Ankrish Raghuvanshi(WK), Cameron Green, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakravarthy
Impact Player – Vaibhav Arora / Matheesha Pathirana / Rahul Tripathi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders Timeline
| Year | Location | Winner | Notable Highlight / Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Bengaluru | KKR | McCullum’s 158* in the IPL inaugural match. |
| 2008 | Kolkata | KKR | KKR wins by 5 runs to sweep 2–0. |
| 2009 | Centurion | RCB | RCB wins by 5 wickets in South Africa. |
| 2009 | Johannesburg | RCB | RCB completes a 2–0 season sweep. |
| 2010 | Kolkata | KKR | KKR dominates at home by 7 wickets. |
| 2010 | Bengaluru | RCB | Robin Uthappa’s 86* leads RCB to victory. |
| 2011 | Kolkata | RCB | Chris Gayle’s debut century (102*). |
| 2011 | Bengaluru | RCB | RCB wins a rain-hit game to sweep 2–0. |
| 2012 | Kolkata | KKR | Gautam Gambhir leads KKR to a 47-run win. |
| 2012 | Bengaluru | KKR | KKR sweeps 2–0 in their first title-winning year. |
| 2013 | Bengaluru | RCB | Gayle anchors a successful 155-run chase. |
| 2013 | Kolkata | KKR | KKR wins by 5 wickets at Eden Gardens. |
| 2014 | Sharjah | KKR | KKR wins a UAE thriller by just 2 runs. |
| 2014 | Kolkata | KKR | Uthappa (KKR) secures a 30-run victory. |
| 2015 | Kolkata | RCB | Gayle’s 96 leads a high-pressure chase. |
| 2015 | Bengaluru | RCB | RCB wins a rain-reduced game to sweep 2–0. |
| 2016 | Bengaluru | KKR | Yusuf Pathan’s 60 (24) pulls off a 186-run chase. |
| 2016 | Kolkata | RCB | Kohli (75*) and ABD (59*) cruise to a 9-wicket win. |
| 2017 | Kolkata | KKR | RCB 49-all-out, lowest IPL total ever. |
| 2017 | Bengaluru | KKR | Narine’s 15-ball fifty leads a 2–0 sweep. |
| 2018 | Kolkata | KKR | Sunil Narine shines as KKR wins by 4 wickets. |
| 2018 | Bengaluru | KKR | Chris Lynn leads KKR to another 2–0 sweep. |
| 2019 | Bengaluru | KKR | Andre Russell’s 48* (13) pulls off a miracle. |
| 2019 | Kolkata | RCB | Virat Kohli’s century (100) secures a 10-run win. |
| 2020 | Sharjah | RCB | ABD’s 73* (33) leads an 82-run demolition. |
| 2020 | Abu Dhabi | RCB | Siraj makes history with 2 consecutive maiden overs. |
| 2021 | Chennai | RCB | Maxwell and ABD dominate in a 38-run win. |
| 2021 | Abu Dhabi | KKR | KKR bowls RCB out for 92; wins by 9 wickets. |
| 2021 | Sharjah (PO) | KKR | KKR knocks RCB out in the Eliminator. |
| 2022 | Navi Mumbai | RCB | A low-scoring 3-wicket thriller for RCB. |
| 2023 | Kolkata | KKR | Shardul Thakur’s 68 destroys RCB by 81 runs. |
| 2023 | Bengaluru | KKR | KKR’s spin unit sweeps the season 2–0. |
| 2024 | Bengaluru | KKR | KKR chases 183 comfortably in 16.5 overs. |
| 2024 | Kolkata | KKR | KKR wins a 1-run thriller (222 vs 221). |
| 2025 | Kolkata | RCB | Kohli guides a 7-wicket chase at Eden Gardens. |
| 2025 | Bengaluru | No Result | Match abandoned due to persistent rain. |
| 2026 | Raipur | Scheduled | Next clash in the ongoing season. |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders Stats
- Virat Kohli utterly dominates the Kolkata Knight Riders attack, smashing a staggering 1,021 runs against them.
- Sunil Narine haunts RCB, leading the rivalry with 27 wickets as their most dangerous bowling threat.
- RCB hit rock bottom in 2017, collapsing for just 49 runs at Eden Gardens—the lowest total in IPL history.
- Mohammed Siraj destroyed KKR in 2020, restricting them to 84/8 with his historic, brilliant back-to-back maiden overs.
- Sunil Narine has dominated Virat Kohli, dismissing him four times while conceding only 136 runs in 17 IPL innings.
RCB vs KKR Prediction
RCB vs KKR Prediction will be challenging this time. In this balanced pitch, it will be a close encounter. Both the teams has winning momentum.
KKR holds a 21-15 lead over RCB in overall head-to-head IPL history. KKR is on a 4 consecutive winning streak. Their spin trio of Narine, Varun, and Anukul is a game changer for KKR and Finn, Rinku, and Green give stability in the batting.
From Virat to Krunal, RCB has depth in batting, and Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood are in red -hot form. So, it will be an entertaining match at Raipur.
Prediction: RCB won by 5-6 wickets or 20-25 runs.
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My name is Krishanu Das the founder of the Sports Dribble.
I am Accountant by profession but a Sports Blogger by passion.
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