In the IPL 2025 Final, Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
New Delhi: In the IPL 2025 Final, Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Rajat Patidar-led side broke the record for the longest wait for a maiden title. which is after 18 years.
Punjab Kings bowlers did a better than average job to limit Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 190 for nine. But their batsmen were not able to perform under pressure as the Shreyas Iyer-led team managed only 184/7 in 20 overs.
Krunal Pandya was the RCB pick bowler finishing with two wickets for 17 runs from four overs. RCB finally got to hold the trophy after coming runner-up on three occasions earlier. It was a gut-wrenching defeat for Punjab Kings who were contesting their second final and first since 2014.
RCB overcame the challenge even though they did not have a great time with the bat. Virat Kohli scored the highest of 43 off 35 balls and skipper Rajat Patidar could not capitalize on a good start scoring 26 off 16 balls. For Punjab Kings, Yuzvendra Chahal was excellent with an economy of 1/37 in 4 overs and Kyle Jamieson took 3 for 48.
It only took a harmless-looking ball outside the off stump to dismiss the most threatening batter in the final. Iyer, fresh from an outstanding performance in Qualifier 2, nicked it behind off Shepherd and trudged back to the pavilion, head bowed in disappointment.
Josh Inglis (39 off 23 balls, 1x4s, 4x6s) made every ball count while hitting towards midwicket but Pandya caught him at long-on in the 13th over.
Subsequently, every dot ball received applause from fans and they were the loudest when AB de Villiers, legend of RCB, was shown on the ground’s big screen, and also when PBKS got mathematically eliminated.
eager to get the early punch, RCB required something special and Phil Salt came up with a great effort in deep when Priyansh Arya (24) got a lift on Hazlewood in the fifth over.
Salt sprinted from deep square leg to his right and accepted the catch reverse cupped and tossed the ball in the air as he came whizzing past the ropes. He soon picked himself up to get in the way of the field and pull off an incredible catch.
Punjab’s impact player Prabhsimran Singh (26 off 22 balls) gave way to pressure even though his team scored 52/1 in the powerplay.
Bhuvneshwar closed the doors on Punjab by sending Nehal Wadhera (15) and Marcus Stoinis (6) packing in three deliveries in the 17th over and thereafter, RCB’s victory was merely a formality.
Earlier, RCB huffed and puffed to 190 for nine after their batsmen refused to push things on what was still a friendly wicket.
Whereas RCB were not just slightly conservative in the grand final, fortune also did not smile on fourth-time finalists seeking their first trophy much, as all of their batters died after receiving a start.
And there were no fireworks on the final night of the big final as Kohli, intent on anchoring the innings the way he has done so often before, fell after his toil in the middle.
Kohli hit only three fours — two after the ninth over — as he compiled his 43 off 35 balls at 122.85.
RCB’s impeding after the powerplay, where they added 55/1, also witnessed their batsmen milking the strike and not taking the initiative to go for big overs with only 42 runs added between overs 6-11.
Salt’s dismissal had a significant effect on how RCB’s innings unfolded from thereon but none of the subsequent batsmen including Mayank Agarawal (24), Rajat Patidar (26) and Liam Livingstone (25) were able to take their starts through.
The tall Jamieson made a massive difference, not just playing the right lengths and variations to putting a check on the batters but also picking up three important batters to take RCB further back.
Then, in the second over itself, after Salt whacked him for a four down mid-on, he got the RCB opener caught by Iyer and in the 11th, after being hit for a six by Rajat Patidar over mid-off, Jamieson bowled a brilliant slow yorker which trapped the batter in front of the wickets.
Jamieson’s run tally was marred to a certain degree in the 17th over when Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10 balls, 2x4s, 2x6s) clubbed a couple of sixes and Livingstone one to gather 23 off it.
Once again, though, Jamieson finished it by having Livingstone leg-before off a full toss.
Given a chance to shine, India star Arshdeep Singh dismissed Krunal Pandya (4), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) and Romario Shepherd (17) in the last over.