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Arpit Sachdeva

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RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 Final

Royal Challengers Bengaluru end 18-year title drought, beats Punjab Kings to win maiden IPL trophy

RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 Final (Image Credits: X)

History has been made - Royal Challengers Bengaluru have finally won an Indian Premier League title after waiting for 18 long years. On the night of the final, Krunal Pandya came to his team's rescue and won the historic game for his side. RCB waited for it for 18 years and they finally lifted the title in front of a packed crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.

Until the eighth over of the second innings, Punjab Kings looked like they might chase down the target with ease. But what followed was an outstanding game-changing spell from Krunal Pandya. His sensational spell of 2 for 17 turned things around and helped RCB restrict PBKS to 184, thereby winning the game by six runs. 

It’s a historic moment and can't be more joyous to anyone than Virat Kohli. He has been a part of the team since the inaugural season and after waiting for 18 long years, he finally lived his dream. He couldn’t produce a special knock on the night of the final but was sensational with the bat throughout the season. 

How did RCB fare with the bat? 

After being invited to bat first, Royal Challengers Bangalore registered 190 on the board at the end of the first innings. On a good batting track, it didn’t look enough in hindsight. Punjab were brilliant with the ball as they implemented their plans with perfection. Arshdeep Singh missed his lengths in the powerplay as Phil Salt smacked him a four and a six to get going. But Kyle Jamieson negated his threat, immediately, by picking his wicket in the second over. It proved to be a massive wicket as Virat Kohli seemed to be taking his time to get his eye in. 

Mayank Agarwal and Kohli couldn’t score as aggressively as they would have liked but RCB still managed to reach 55 for the loss of Phil Salt at the end of the powerplay. Virat Kohli had scored just 13 off 11 balls till that point, and it was time he changed gears. But Punjab bowlers gave him no pace to work with. Azmatullah Omarzai and Vyshak consistently bowled short at the stumps and outside the off-stump and took the pace off. It worked as Kohli struggled to find boundaries. 

RCB struggled to get going in the middle overs! 

Between 7 and 15 overs, they had scored 77 runs. Every time an RCB batter looked dangerous, Punjab struck back with a wicket. Mayank looked good for his 24 off 18 but was too cautious during that knock. Rajat Patidar (26 off 18) hit a six each off Chahal and Jamieson in successive overs to shift the momentum but the latter had him leg-before immediately, after. Virat Kohli’s sluggish knock of 43 off 35 balls came to an end on the final ball of the 15th over. 

Jitesh Sharma came out firing all guns blazing but none could finish well 

RCB needed to turn the momentum around and Jitesh Sharma came to their rescue. He hit two fours to Arshdeep in the 16th over and then two sixes off Jamieson in the next over. But in the same over, Jamieson sent Livingstone back, taking wickets at regular intervals. 

Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) was another batter guilty of not converting the start into a big score. Vijaykumar Vyshak knocked him over in the 18th over. Romario Shepherd came and struck a four and six in the 19th over and it seemed like RCB might go past 200. But, he too departed in the next over. After proving to be expensive in his first three overs, Arshdeep bowled a superb last over that went for just three runs and also took the wickets of Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. RCB ended up managing 190 on the night of the final. 

Punjab openers started on the right note but Hazlewood had the last laugh

After Punjab started with two good overs in the second innings, Josh Hazlewood came in and created chances right away. A pull-shot from Prabhsimran Singh went straight into the hands of Shepherd but the West Indies all-rounder dropped it. The openers ensured they kept rotating the strike and put the bad balls away for boundaries. No wicket after four overs and Patidar had to bowl Josh Hazlewood another over in the powerplay. 

Priyansh Arya hit him for two fours and dejection was all over the faces of RCB fans. But on the last ball of the over, Hazlewood struck back! He cramped Priyansh Arya for room but the left-hander still managed to put it away on the leg side. It looked like the ball might go for a six but Phil Salt pulled off a sensational catch. RCB finally broke the partnership and the crowd was again up on their feet.  After six overs, Punjab scored 52 for the loss of one wicket- three runs less than what RCB had scored. A 15-run over from Suyash Sharma helped Punjab Kings reach 70 for 1 after eight overs. 

Krunal Pandya comes with a game-changing spell 

At that stage, Punjab Kings were cruising into the chase. But the arrival of Krunal Pandya turned things around completely. He varied his pace wonderfully and kept mixing it up brilliantly. Krunal deceived Prabhsimran Singh (26 off 22) with a change in pace, while Romario Shepherd picked the big wicket of Shreyas Iyer (1). The momentum shifted completely in the space of two overs. From 70 for 1, Punjab slipped to 81 for 3 after 10 overs. 

However, Josh Inglis looked unstoppable at the other end. In his final over of his spell, Krunal Pandya had the Australian mistime one to long-on, leaving RCB fans jumping in pure elation. Inglis departed after a well-made 39 off 23. 

72 needed off the last five overs and PBKS fell 6 runs short 

Rajat Patidar brought Hazlewood to bowl the 16th over in a bid to further shoot up that required rate. However, his move backfired as the Australian went for 17 runs in the over, courtesy of two sixes from Shashank Singh. 55 were needed off the final four overs, and the game was evenly poised. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar- the veteran- then arrived and sent both Nehal Wadhera (15) and Stoinis (6) back to the hut by bowling wide lengths outside the off stump. The game, once again, turned back in favour of RCB. Shashank Singh hit some lusty blows, later but it was a bit too late. In the end, Punjab fell six runs behind. 

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