Final , RCB Vs PBKS , IPL 2025 Highlights : RCB Shatters 17-Year Curse to Clinch Maiden IPL Crown .

FINAL , RCB Vs PBKS, AHMEDABAD, IPL 2025 : RCB Shatters 17-Year Curse to Clinch Maiden IPL Crown .

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have won their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) championship by beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the final. The Rajat Patidar-led outfit, which comprises cricket legend Virat Kohli, made its 18-year wait for its maiden IPL trophy a thing of past. Electing to field, PBKS kept RCB to 190 for 9, thanks to Arshdeep Singh (3 for 40) and Kyle Jamieson (3 for 48). RCB’s top-scorer was Virat Kohli, who managed a 43-ball 35. RCB made a poor start to their innings and lost wickets at regular intervals. In response, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2 for 38) and Krunal Pandya (2 for 17) delivered magical spells to restrict PBKS at 184 for 7 in 20 overs. RCB Shatters 17-Year Curse to Clinch Maiden IPL Crown .

TOSS-

Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to field.

PLAYING XI-

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):

Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood

Punjab Kings (Playing XI):

Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Royal Challengers Bangalore Impact Subs:

Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Suyash Sharma.

Punjab Kings Impact Subs:

Prabhsimran Singh, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlet, Harpreet Brar

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU –

Salt started with a bang targeting the fine leg fence playing against Arshdeep Singh but perished in the next over bowled by Kyle Jamieson when he mistimed a big hit. Shreyas Iyer had gone back at mid-on, he kept his eyes on the ball and took it just inside the boundary. Virat Kohli received only 10 balls of the PowerPlay but Mayank Agarawal came at one-drop and made a streaky start and got a few shots away. PBKS would have been the happier side too with the ball nipping a bit for the quicks.

Yuzvendra Chahal applied the screws from the outset. Mayank’s slog sweep was straight to Arshdeep at deep backward square leg. The top of the surface was turning juicy, Yo-1.93, 19, 3-22, as it’s started to show a habit of offering some help again. Kohli rode a scratchy start but dispatched a predictable slower bouncer from Azmatullah Omarzai for a four over the keeper. Quick Patidar handled the spin as he usually does, smashing Chahal for a six over mid-wicket. Jamieson also bowled with a bit more pace than usual at times, something that he has done to good effect in the second qualifier at this venue against Mumbai Indians. He instead went the other way to remove Patidar. After four successive slower balls of varying lengths that Patidar was able to survive, Jamieson pulled out a high full-toss of 132kmph that the RCB captain missed to be trapped lbw.

Kohli and the recently arrived Liam Livingstone, to whom Chahal bowled an outstanding six-run over. RCB seemed to bog down post the halfway mark but started to take the attack right after the timeout. Livingstone and Kohli took 14 off Chahal but Omarzai silenced the RCB faithful in the next over. He kept going short at Kohli and finally snuffed him out with a short one, covering a lot of ground to hold on to a catch that flew off the leading edge.

Jitesh Sharma decided to take charge and turn the tide. He smashed Arshdeep for two fours and then slammed Jamieson, who had bowled three very good overs earlier, phase-wise. Jitesh backed away and ramped a shoulder-high ball over fine leg and tonked a straight six when the pacer changed his length to go full. Livingstone clubbed his second six of the over before being leg-before attempting to reverse sweep a full toss. Romario Shepherd walked in and barely had he settled down when he received a lifeline, as Praveen Dubey dropped a difficult opportunity running in from mid-wicket. In a tense passage, Vyshak sent back Jitesh’s stumps and it was silence in the RCB ranks in the stands yet again. Shepherd however, resuscitated them with a four over fine leg and a huge six over mid-wicket from Omarzai. But, Arshdeep had wind in his sails once more, and refashioned the game with a peach of a full ball that trapped the West Indian leg before in the final over. Arshdeep had gone for 37 off his first three overs but his fourth, the 20th — 1 W 1 W 1 W.

PUNJAB KINGS-

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood examined Prabhsimran Singh’s short-ball weakness early, but couldn’t get him out with it. Off Bhuvneshwar, the PBKS opener’s cut had just enough power to elude the outstretched arm off deep backward point. On 7, off Hazlewood, he top-edged a pull to Shepherd at fine leg, who dived too early and put down the catch. Priyansh Arya on the other hand had lived a dicey life. He also had two top-edges sent flying to the third man fence off his own bowling in consecutive balls before Phil Salt took a boundary line blinder to dismiss the left-hander. Josh Inglis swatted Yash Dayal for a six but the RCB pace troika did well to keep a lid on Punjab’s scoring early on.

Prabhsimran’s misery off Krunal Pandya spilled over as he began with a three-run over. Suyash Sharma offered him an escape route, with a full ball in the slot he struck for a straight six. Inglis hit a googly for one as well as the pair took 15 off the leggie. Krunal remained the thorn in the flesh for Prabhsimran after the time out when he had the opener caught at backward point. The game went downhill for PBKS in the 10th over as Shepherd had Shreyas Iyer nicking one behind. Inglis attempted to counter the attack with a six off Shepherd in the wicket over and another one off Krunal in the next, but the left-arm spinner was in the midst of a stirring spell as he gave away only 14 off three overs. Patidar rewarded that faith by handing him his fourth over on the trot, and the left-arm spinner responded with Inglis’s wicket to take the wind out of the PBKS sail. Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera failed to cope with Suyash’s spin but the left hander got a four and six off Shepherd to keep the flame flickering heading into the death overs.

Shashank whacked Hazlewood for a couple of sixes in a 17-run 16th over to bring the game back on even keel. But Bhuvneshwar took RCB a step closer to glory with the wickets of Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis in the 17th over. Azmatullah Omarzai was then dismissed in 18th over off Dayal to leave Shashank with too much to do. He hit Bhuvneshwar for a six and a four in the penultimate over to bring the equation to 29 from six. Hazlewood delivered two dots to close the match and Kohli was in tears, even as Shashank went 6, 4, 6, 6 of the next four balls.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 190/9 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 43, Rajat Patidar 26; Arshdeep Singh 3-40) won against Punjab Kings 184/7 in 20 overs (Shashank Singh 61\*, Josh Inglis 39; Krunal Pandya 2-17) by 6 runs.