Prolific captain David Warner top scored with a brutal 69 off just 38 balls as Sunrisers posted an imposing 208-7 after winning the toss at a packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
A star-studded RCB side looked to be heading for their maiden IPL crown when Chris Gayle (76 from 38) and the irrepressible Virat Kohli (54 off 35) put on 114 for the first wicket off a mere 69 balls.
But Ben Cutting (2-35) impressed with the ball after also making 39 not out from 15 balls andBhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a tight final over as RCB fell short once again in their own backyard.
Only Kohli has scored more runs than Warner in the 2016 IPL and the Australia opener got his side off to a rapid start, launching the expensive Shane Watson's first ball into the crowd and Shikhar Dhawan(28 from 25) did the same two balls later.
Gayle put down a sharp chance to get rid of Dhawan off his own bowling, with the India batsman and Warner adding insult to injury by giving the West Indies opening batsman the treatment.
Yuvraj Singh (38 from 23) got in on the act after Dhawan and Moises Henriques were dismissed, while Warner smashed another two sixes and eight fours before Sreenath Aravind (2-30) ended his magnificent knock.
Chris Jordan took 3-45, with Watson going for a wicket-less 61 from his four overs after Cutting cut loose with a late flurry to get Sunrisers over the 200 mark.
Gayle clubbed eight sixes and passed 9000 Twenty20 runs in an onslaught with support from the classy Kohli, but Cutting sent the Windies left-hander on his way and the RCB skipper soon followed when he was bowled by Barinder Sran.
RCB needed 18 off the last over and that proved to be too much as Bhuvneshwar, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, showed his death-bowling prowess to silence a partisan crowd.
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