New Delhi: Bowlers took Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the IPL 2025 final as they helped decimate Punjab Kings by eight wickets in the Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur on Thursday.
It will be RCB’s first IPL final since 2016 while Punjab will now get a second chance to reach the final in Qualifier 2 when they face the winners of the Eliminator between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians.
RCB won the toss and opted to bowl and even their skipper Rajat Patidar couldn’t have imagines how clinical they were on the field as they shot out the home team for 101 in 14.1 overs.
The match was over at the half way stage and Phil Salt then out the finishing touches with an unbeaten 27-ball 56 (6×4, 3×6) as RCB reached their target in 10 overs for the biggest win (by balls remaining) in the playoffs.
Salt reached fifty off only 23 overs, his fastest in IPL, to nullify any hoped PBKS had, as RCB won with 60 balls to spare.
Patidar remained unbeaten on 15 as Virat Kohli (12) and Mayank Agarwal (19) all helped to take RCB to their fourth final.
Punjab batters choke
Playing in their home conditions, Punjab batters would have fancy their chances of making a big score after being asked to take first strike.
But they were too aggressive for their own good and that led to their dramatic downfall as they were shot out for a poor score.
A tinge of grass and a hint of swing made batting Punjab’s all-out hitting tricky and absence of a secondary plan once they slumped to 30/3 in the fourth over proved to be a huge mistake.
Say Hello to the first 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒 of #TATAIPL 2025 ❤#RCB fans, how elated are you? 🤩
Updates ▶ https://t.co/FhocIrg42l#PBKSvRCB | #Qualifier1 | #TheLastMile | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/gmnjZsFWxF
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 29, 2025
Priyansh Arya (7), Prabhsimran Singh (18), Josh Inlkis (4) and skipper Shreyas Iyer were in too much hurry to score, trying to manufacture shots and knicking the moving ball.
RCB’s pace trio of Josh Hazlewood (3/21), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/17) and Yash Dayal (2/26) relished bowling in helpful conditions and PBKS batters got no respite when leg-spinner Suyash Sharma (3/17) came into the attack either.
Marcus Stoinis (26) was the only PBKS batter who looked like batting with any sort of purpose but he ran out of partners and also gave away his wicket with an ugly hoick in the end.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru thrashed Punjab Kings by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 to enter the IPL 2025 final. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
