EE SALA CUP NAMDU! RCB END 18-YEAR WAIT FOR FIRST IPL TRIUMPH
Wednesday 4 June 2025
TATA IPL Final 2025
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Vs Punjab Kings
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
EE SALA CUP NAMDU! RCB END 18-YEAR WAIT FOR FIRST IPL TRIUMPH
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their 18-year wait for their first ever IPL trophy by edging out Punjab Kings in a thrilling final.
MATCH PREVIEW:
This is it! The biggest final that every Indian cricket fan is waiting for. The TATA IPL Final 2025, on the 18th season of this tournament which has proven to be the most exciting form of cricket for all fans. Royal Challengers Bengaluru square off once again with Punjab Kings in what is going to be a thrilling final! RCB have broken various records during their journey to the final. They are the first and only team to win 7 consecutive away games in a single league phase in this campaign, and they have ended some curses which have been ongoing for them. They beat Chennai Super Kings twice this season and won at Chepauk for the first time in 17 years. They beat Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium and won after 10 years. They demolished PBKS in the first qualifier at Mullanpur by romping them all out for 101 and sealed the win by 8 wickets, now they have a chance to make it 3-1 in their favour this season. Punjab Kings have also had a superb season, mainly due to the fact that their uncapped youngsters are performing in big games like Priyansh Arya, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vyshak Vijayakumar and you name it. Led by ex-KKR title winner and skipper Shreyas Iyer, they have been phenomenal on their away games. Beating CSK twice both home and away, they defended the lowest total at their home ground in New Chandigarh against Kolkata Knight Riders in April, and not to mention, they mowed down Mumbai Indians in qualifier 2 to book a rematch with RCB to win their first title and make it to their first final in 11 years. This is it, who will lift the TATA IPL 2025? Will it be, Rajat Patidar's RCB or Shreyas Iyer's PBKS?
TOSS & TEAM NEWS:
The toss was won by Shreyas Iyer and they chose to field first on a pitch which seems like a batting paradise.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Salt, Kohli, Patidar (C), Agarwal, Jitesh Sharma, Livingstone, Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar, Tim Seifert, Manoj Bhandhage, Swapnil Singh
Punjab Kings: Arya, Inglis, Shreyas Iyer (C), Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Stoinis, Omarzai, Vyshak Vijayakumar, Jamieson, Chahal, Arshdeep
Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Pravin Dubey, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Suyansh Shedge
ONES TO WATCH:
Virat Kohli: The grand final, and it's his 4th final with the club, the one-man club, who has been so loyal, hardworking and determined to win the IPL for RCB. He has been once again, their top run scorer in this season for his team, once again providing fierce competition for the Orange Cap. He has been through the highs and lows with RCB, will tonight be the moment he lifts the trophy?
Krunal Pandya: Once a title winner with Mumbai Indians for 3 years in 2017, 2019 & 2020, his form has dipped massively. He was once part of the Pandya brothers combo which were deadly for Mumbai Indians, and he has massively revived his career in the best possible way. After 3 years with Lucknow Super Giants, RCB bidded and put faith in him, and what a decision it was! He came back with his best, and has been so impressive of late. What will he produce tonight for the Reds?
Shreyas Iyer: A title winner with Kolkata Knight Riders, he has had a historic year! And he becomes the first captain to take 3 teams to not only the playoffs, but the finals. He took Delhi Captials to the 2020 IPL final, and KKR to the 2024 IPL Final and won with them. Now, he has taken Punjab Kings, with a team of uncapped talents, to the IPL final. What a brave achievement he has done!! Can he repeat the same feat like last year?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru BATTING INNINGS:
HERE WE GO IN THE IPL FINAL! Arshdeep Singh to Phil Salt, and we can see the aggression from the RCB players already, particularly from the ex-KKR opener, as he takes a six and four off Arshdeep to cap off a good over for RCB with 13 runs coming off that. But Punjab struck first blood as Kyle Jamieson got Phil Salt caught out by Shreyas Iyer who took a good catch, but he had to track back 18m to take a skier. RCB lose their first wicket at 17-1.
Jamieson celebrates with the team after dismissing Phil Salt.
Out comes the Bengaluru boy, Mayank Agarwal, who was a late replacement for the injured Devdutt Padikkal. And he has taken his time to settle at the crease with Virat Kohli, who has also made a slow start, but is picking up the pace. RCB end the powerplay on 55-1 after 6 overs.
The legspin wizard, Yuzvendra Chahal was brought on in the 7th over and got his first wicket, as Mayank Agarwal holed out to Arshdeep Singh at deep backward square by attempting to sweep, but didn't get enough timing on it. A fun stat: Chahal has dismissed Mayank Agarwal 6 times in the IPL before today, making it 7.
The strategic timeout was taken by Punjab Kings after the 9th over with RCB at 80/2. It's been a decent start for both sides, leading up to the halfway point. with RCB at 87/2 after 10 overs. Kyle Jamieson claimed his 2nd scalp of the night as the RCB skipper was caught LBW from a yorker delivery on the toes. Smart bowling from Jamieson to make it 97/3 after 11 overs.
Jamieson celebrates the wicket of Rajat Patidar with RCB at 97/3 after 11 overs.
It looked as though RCB would accelerate through this innings, thanks to a big over from Yuzvendra Chahal's final over conceding 14 runs to leave RCB at 125/3 after 14 overs. But Azmatullah Omarzai produces a moment of brilliance to dismiss the set batsman Virat Kohli, who was on 43 runs off 34 runs before he got out. Kohli attempted a pull from a bouncer length ball from the Afghan all-rounder, but he could only top edge it and great ground from the youngster to claim a stunning caught and bowled after covering 19 yards from the bowling crease. That leaves RCB on 132/4 after 15 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai celebrates the big wicket of Virat Kohli
This allows Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma to try and accelerate the total further. They initially did by hitting 3 sixes in Jamieson's final over, only for the tall 6ft 8 Kiwi to have the last laugh as Liam Livingstone was caught in front as he missed a full toss, which was just clipping leg stump after the 32-year-old Englishman reviewed. Barring those, Jitesh kept RCB in the hunt, only for Vyshak to rip through the wicketkeeper's stumps by forcing Jitesh to chop on from a on-pace delivery. Krunal and Romario Shepherd were out in the middle, hoping to up the anti by pushing the score upwards to 200. But it only happened briefly as Shepherd tonked Omarzai for a 4 and 6.
Final Over by Arshdeep Singh, ball by ball detail:
Ball 1: Arshdeep Singh to Krunal Pandya - 1 run, can't time it well, gets a single to the long-on fielder.
Ball 2: Arshdeep Singh to Romario Shepherd - OUT. TERRIFIC YORKER from Arshdeep Singh and Shepherd reviews it immediately. But no doubt, this is a clean LBW as this was hitting middle and off stump. 7 down. RCB are 188-7.
Ball 3: Arshdeep Singh to Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 1 run. Off the mark with a single to point.
Ball 4: Arshdeep Singh to Krunal Pandya - OUT. HE HASN'T TIMED IT WELL, KRUNAL PANDYA AND HE HOLES OUT TO LONG-ON! STRAIGHT INTO THE BREAD BASKET HANDS OF THE PBKS SKIPPER. 8 down. RCB are 189-8. THIS HAS BEEN A TERRIFIC OVER FROM ARSHDEEP SINGH CONCEDING JUST 2 RUNS AND 2 WICKETS IN THE OVER.
Ball 5: Arshdeep Singh to Yash Dayal - 1 run. Dayal is off the mark with a stroke to long-off.
Ball 6: Arshdeep Singh to Bhuvneshwar Kumar - OUT. AND HE ENDS THE OVER WITH A WICKET!! WHAT TERRIFIC BOWLING IT HAS BEEN FROM THE FAST BOWLER! 3 RUNS AND 3 WICKETS IN ONE OVER!! SIMPLY SPECTACULAR! NO TIMING FROM BHUVI AS HE PICKS OUT PRIYANSH ARYA AT LONG ON. RCB FINISH THE FIRST INNINGS WITH A SCORE OF 190-9 AT A RATE OF 9.5 RPO. It isn't much but a decent performance by Patidar's men in red.
Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh celebrate after the fast bowler picked up 3 wickets in the final over giving away 3 runs.
RCB INNINGS SUMMARY:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 190-9 (20 OVERS) RR: 9.5 | Punjab Kings BOWLING |
Virat Kohli: 43 (35) | Kyle Jamieson: 3-48 (4) |
Rajat Patidar: 26 (16) | Arshdeep Singh: 3-40 (4) |
Liam Livingstone: 25 (15) | Yuzvendra Chahal: 1-37 (4) |
Target for Punjab Kings is 191 from 20 overs at a rate of 9.05 an over.
PUNJAB KINGS BATTING INNINGS:
And the Punjab Kings innings gets off to a terrific start with Priyansh Arya, who has been so destructive in the powerplay this season, opening the scoring with a 4. The signal of the impact sub comes into place with Prabhsimran Singh, who has also had a good season with the bat replacing Yuzvendra Chahal. A great first over for the Sher Squad with 13 coming off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's first over. This was followed up with 10 runs off Yash Dayal's first over, until Josh Hazelwood got the better of Priyansh Arya. Has this been taken? YES IT IS! TERRIFIC ATHLETICISM FROM PHIL SALT TO TAKE A SUPERB CATCH AT DEEP MIDWICKET, PRIYANSH ARYA LOOKED TO PLACE IT OVER THE ROPES, BUT THE ENGLISHMAN JUDGED THE CATCH TO PERFECTION! A big blow for Punjab Kings as it's their star batter, Priyansh Arya who walks after scoring 24 from 19 balls, leaving the Punjab Kings at 43-1 after 5 overs.
Hazelwood and Kohli celebrate Priyansh Arya's wicket
And here's the man who scored 20 runs off Jasprit Bumrah in Qualifer 2, Josh Inglis, as he joins Prabhsimran out in the middle. The Aussie got a six off Yash Dayal in the final over of the powerplay as PBKS finished with 52-1 after 6 overs. It looks an evenly matched contest, with the game in the balance for both teams. After Krunal's great over going for just 3 runs, impact sub Suyash Sharma was taken down for 15 runs leaving PBKS at 70-1 after 8 overs with RCB opting for the strategic timeout.
And the timeout paid great dividence as Krunal got Prabhsimran caught out at point by Bhuvi, with the third wicket falling, as Punjab were left on 74-2 after 9 overs. The elation continued as skipper Shreyas Iyer, who smashed 87 against Mumbai Indians, falls for Romario Shepherd, with RCB all over the PBKS batting lineup, at 81-3 at the halfway stage. Inglis kept the fire burning for the Punjab batting lineup as they were 88-3 after 11 overs, going at a rate of 8 RPO (runs per over). And here we go again, Krunal Pandya returns with the big scalp gone! OH NO! JOSH INGLIS! HE HAS THROWN THE GAME AWAY! LOOKS TO GO DOWN THE GROUND, WITH GREAT ADVANCEMENT OF THE FEET, BUT HOLES OUT TO LIAM LIVINGSTONE AT LONG ON! IS THE GAME THERE FOR THE PUNJAB KINGS?! Inglis departs for 39 from 23, leaving a huge hole to fix at 101-4 after 13 overs with Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera at the crease taking the timeout.
Kohli and Krunal Pandya celebrate the big wicket of Inglis
After the timeout, it would seem that Punjab Kings were down and out, but the current two batters have both experienced this scenario before. And it was great as two big overs for Punjab Kings from the bowling of Josh Hazelwood and Romario Shepherd going for 30 runs, gave hope for Shreyas Iyer's side with the final 4 fours remain at 136-4 after 16 overs. It only seemed temporary as Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis in the same over, bringing joy back to the RCB fans! They are almost there, but Punjab Kings are still in this game, with 144-6 after 17 overs. And the chances have slipped away as Dayal conceded just 5 runs, leaving Punjab Kings at 149-7 after 18 overs with 42 needed off 12 deliveries! They need some big hits from here, do the Kings. After 13 runs from Bhuvi's final over, the celebrations have started at the RCB camp!
Kohli's tears of joy indicated that RCB are have clinched the IPL
Final over ball-by-ball detail: Shashank Singh faces off Josh Hazelwood with 29 needed off the last over
Ball 1: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: DOT BALL. Hits towards long on from a full toss. Doesn't run it.
Ball 2: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: DOT BALL. Again hits towards wide long off. And that's the game! Celebrations have started at the RCB camp, and the efforts are futile from the Punjab Kings.
Ball 3: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: SIX. Good strike from Shashank, but it is too late. Struck well over deep square leg.
Ball 4: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: FOUR. Short ball, pulled away for 4, and he moves to 49 runs!!
Ball 5: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: SIX. Great strike over mid-wicket for 6! Brings up a half-century for Shashank, but it is too late.
Ball 6: Josh Hazelwood to Shashank Singh: SIX. HITS A ONE-HANDED SHOT FOR 6 OVER DEEP OVER, BUT IT'S ALL OVER!
AFTER 18 YEARS OF WAITING, IT IS THE ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU WHO ARE CELEBRATING! THEY HAVE BEEN SO IMPRESSIVE THIS SEASON, WINNING ALL 7 OF THEIR AWAY GAMES, AND CLINCHING THE IPL TROPHY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!! THEY LOOKED DOWN AND OUT AFTER THEY WERE RESTRICTED FOR 190-9, BUT KRUNAL PANDYA AND BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR STRUCK TIMELY TO CLINCH AN IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE WITH THE BALL! SHASHANK SINGH DID GAVE THEM A SCARE WITH HIS 61 NOT OUT FROM 30 BALLS. ALL IN VAIN UNFORTUNATELY FOR SHREYAS IYER'S MEN!
The celebrations began as soon as Livingstone lifted Kohli to celebrate their IPL triumph!
Player of the Match: Krunal Pandya
An experienced campaigner who has had his best IPL season to date, after winning 3 IPL titles with Mumbai Indians, delivered on a big night yet again, claiming 2 big scalps in Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis and just conceding 17 runs with an economy rate of 4.25. Simply a sensational player! Will there be more to come from this impressive all-rounder until we see him on the cricket pitch?
The once formiddable trio of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers lifted the IPL trophy together at Ahmedabad!
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