After a thrilling round of IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 on Thursday, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Punjab Kings by 8 wickets and reached the finals of the IPL 2025.
The Virat Kohli-starrer RCB completely dominated the Punjab Kings team from the first ball of the game itself. Everything turned out to be in the favour of RCB from the very beginning of the game, including captain Patidar’s choice to bowl first after winning the toss. The RCB bowlers ran through the Punjab Kings’ batting line-up, bowling out the entire PBKS team for only 101 runs in just 14.1 overs.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) lost four wickets early in the powerplay and struggled to recover after that. At one point, they were struggling at 60/7, and reaching 100 runs seemed unlikely. But they managed to cross 100 and ended their innings at 101 runs.
Marcus Stoinis was the only PBKS batter to score more than 20 runs, making 26. Eight other players couldn’t even reach double digits. For RCB, Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma were the main wicket-takers, each taking 3 wickets.
While batting, RCB quickly chased the target in just 10 overs, losing only 2 wickets. Phil Salt was the top scorer for RCB, hitting an unbeaten 56 runs off just 27 balls.
After the match, Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma shared a sweet moment. Anushka was once again in the stands, showing strong support for her husband and the team.
As the RCB players celebrated in the dugout, Virat looked up at the stands where Anushka was cheering loudly. He then raised one finger, likely meaning that RCB is now just one win away from lifting the IPL trophy. The video of the incident has been going viral on the internet. Watch it here:
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) May 29, 2025
THIS IS RAJAT PATIDAR ERA IN RCB…!!! 🏆🔥 pic.twitter.com/OmwPSsTY6i
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 29, 2025
RCB will play their first IPL final since 2016, having lost all three previous finals. They’ve been consistent this season and are confident of winning their first IPL trophy.
PBKS will face the winner of the Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier on June 1. The Eliminator takes place on May 30.
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