Table Of Contents
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have ended the 18-year-long wait for a trophy, registering an emphatic win over the Punjab Kings. Krunal Pandya was the star performer with the ball in hand. The left-arm spinner gave away only 14 runs in his spell while picking up a couple of wickets. RCB won the clash by six runs.
Punjab Kings are at 144/6 in 17 overs. Need 47 runs in 18 balls. Shashank: 23* (15), Omarzai: 1* (1)
Nehal Wadhera has finally been put out of his misery. The left-handed batter scored only 15 runs off 18 deliveries before his dismissal. Marcus Stoinis, coming to the crease, got off to the mark with a six off the first ball. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up his second wicket as he dismissed Stoinis on the very next ball.
Punjab Kings are at 136/4 in 16 overs. Need 55 runs in 24 balls. Wadhera: 15* (16), Shashank: 22* (14)
Josh Hazlewood has been brought back into the attack by Patidar. The Australian pacer was struck for a six on the third ball of the over. RCB took a review on the very next ball for an LBW, but the ball was missing legs. In the process, they have lost both reviews of the innings. Shashank struck a six on the final ball of the over to bring the asking rate below 14.
Punjab Kings are at 119/4 in 15 overs. Need 72 runs in 30 balls. Wadhera: 13* (14), Shashank: 9* (10)
Romario Shepherd returned to bowl his third over and was welcomed with a couple of boundaries. Shashank Singh hit him for a four before Nehal Wadera struck a six. It was a poor decision from Rajat Patidar to hand the West Indian the ball when he had enough overs from his senior bowlers.
Punjab Kings are at 106/4 in 14 overs. Need 85 runs in 36 balls. Wadhera: 6* (12), Shashank: 3* (6)
Suyash Sharma, after conceding 15 runs in his opening over, has bounced back strongly while bowling to these two new batters. He gave away only five runs in the six balls.
Punjab Kings are at 101/4 in 13 overs. Need 90 runs in 42 balls. Wadhera: 3* (8), Shashank: 2* (4)
Finally, Wadhera’s knock has resulted in Inglis’ dismissal. Krunal Pandya, bowling his fourth over, picked up the vital wicket for his team. With the asking rate going past 12.5 runs per over, many would believe that Pandya has bowled RCB to victory here.
Punjab Kings are at 98/3 in 11 overs. Need 93 runs in 48 balls. Inglis: 39* (22), Wadhera: 2* (7)
Nehal Wadhera is struggling to get a run at the moment. The left-handed batter has scored two runs off seven balls. His knock would result in increasing pressure on Inglis. Fortunately for PBKS, the Australian batter is striking the ball pretty clean and has struck his fourth six of the innings.
Punjab Kings are at 88/3 in 11 overs. Need 103 runs in 54 balls. Inglis: 24* (16), Wadhera: 1* (4)
Krunal Pandya conceded his first boundary of the night as Josh Inglis struck a six on the first ball of the 11th over. The left-arm spinner pulled back his length for the rest of the over and gave away only a single run off the remaining five deliveries.
Punjab Kings are at 81/3 in 10 overs. Need 110 runs in 60 balls. Inglis: 24* (16), Wadhera: 1* (1)
Suyash Sharma, after an expensive first over, is removed from the attack after a solitary over. Romario Shepherd replaced the spinner. The pacer was welcomed into the attack with a four from Josh Inglis. He bounced back strongly and got the better of Shreyas Iyer. PBKS have been rocked back in the last couple of overs. With the required rate of 11 runs per over, the game has turned on its head.
Punjab Kings are at 74/2 in 9 overs. Need 117 runs in 66 balls. Inglis: 18* (12), Iyer: 1* (1)
Prabhsimran Singh charged down the wicket after getting some confidence from his six in the previous over. He paid the price against Krunal Pandya, who got his first wicket after some disciplined bowling. The two batting stars from the previous game have joined each other at the crease.
Punjab Kings are at 70/1 in 8 overs. Need 121 runs in 72 balls. Prabhsimran: 25* (20), Inglis: 16* (9)
Josh Inglis holds all the aces here for the Punjab Kings. The right-handed batter hoicked Suyash Sharma on the second ball of his spell for a six. Looking at him, Prabhsimran too broke the shackles for a bit and struck a six down the ground. After that three-run over from Krunal, the two batters have more than made up for it against Suyash.
Punjab Kings are at 55/1 in 7 overs. Need 136 runs in 78 balls. Prabhsimran: 17* (16), Inglis: 9* (7)
Like Virat Kohli, Prabhsimran Singh is finding it pretty hard to get going. The right-handed batter, who is usually pretty aggressive, has scored only 17 runs in 16 balls. Krunal Pandya came to bowl the seventh over and started his spell cheaply. Only three runs came off the over.
Punjab Kings are at 52/1 in 6 overs. Need 139 runs in 14 overs. Prabhsimran: 15* (12), Inglis: 8* (5)
Josh Inglis, coming into this game having played one of the most underrated innings of the season, started his knock with a fancy shot. He connected on the penultimate ball of the power play and pulled Yash Dayal into the stands.
Punjab Kings are at 43/1 in 5 overs. Need 148 runs in 15 overs. Prabhsimran: 14* (11)
Once again, Priyansh Arya has found an edge that has not resulted in a dismissal. The left-handed batter edged a short ball from Hazlewood, which went for a four. On the very next ball, he sliced the ball for back-to-back boundaries. The Australian pacer broke the opening stand on the final ball of the over as luck finally ran out for the left-handed batter.
Punjab Kings are at 32/0 in 4 overs. Need 159 runs in 16 overs. Arya: 15* (14), Prabhsimran: 13* (10)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, after a 13-run over, bounced made a strong comeback. The veteran pacer gave away only four runs in the fourth over.
Punjab Kings are at 28/0 in 3 overs. Need 163 runs in 17 overs. Arya: 14* (11), Prabhsimran: 10* (7)
Romario Shepherd has dropped one of the simpler catches of his career. Josh Hazlewood came in the attack to bowl the third over and straightaway created an opportunity to dismiss Prabhsimran. However, Shepherd at deep fine leg, dropped the catch.
Punjab Kings are at 23/0 in 2 overs. Need 168 runs in 18 overs. Arya: 11* (8), Prabhsimran: 8* (4)
Luck is favouring the batters from the Punjab Kings at the moment. After the six in the first over went inches above the fielder, an outside edge in the second over flew between the first slip and the third man fielder. A boundary via leg-byes meant that the over from Yash Dayal went for 10 runs.
Punjab Kings are at 13/0 in 1 over. Need 178 runs in 19 overs. Arya: 6* (4), Prabhsimran: 7* (2)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has erred with his line on the very first ball. The veteran pacer got some swing into the left-hander. Priyansh Arya struck the ball to the boundary, which he received on the pads. Prabhsimran Singh ended the over with a six over the third man boundary.
Punjab Kings, led by Shreyas Iyer, have managed to restrict the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a score of 190 runs. It was a great effort from the bowlers on a pitch that looked pretty well to bat on. The four fast bowlers executed off-pace short deliveries for most of the innings and made life extremely difficult for the RCB batters. Yuzvendra Chahal, the lone spinner, too, picked up a solitary wicket right after the power play. Only Virat Kohli managed to remain at the crease for a long time, but he could not find the middle of his bat and struggled with a low strike rate.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 168/5 after 17 overs. Jitesh: 24* (8), Romario: 1* (1)
Jitesh Sharma, after hitting a couple of fours in the previous over, struck a couple of sixes in the 17th over against Kyle Jamieson. Both of the sixes came in totally different directions. He played a scoop shot for a six behind Josh Inglis before going down the ground. Livingstone too went after the tall right-arm pacer and hit a six on the fourth ball of the over. It was pretty evident that the Kiwi pacer was under extreme pressure as he bowled three wides. He bowled another full toss, which fortunately for him got him a third wicket. Livingstone missed the delivery and was trapped in front of the wickets.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 145/4 after 16 overs. Livingstone: 19* (13), Jitesh: 11* (5)
Arshdeep Singh came back to bowl his third over. It continued to be an unlucky night for the left-arm pacer as he got struck for a couple of boundaries. There was an opportunity to dismiss Jitesh Sharma. The RCB batter gloved one behind that went over the wicketkeeper. Josh Inglis could only get his fingertips to the ball.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 132/4 after 15 overs. Livingstone: 16* (11), Jitesh: 1* (1)
Azmatullah Omarzai continues to shine with the ball in hand. After the previous over went for 14 runs, the Afghan pacer had to bowl a crucial over. He bowled a terrific over and gave only six runs off the first four balls to exert pressure on RCB. It resulted in the big wicket of Virat Kohli with a short ball, resulting in a top-edge. Omarzai completed the catch off his own bowling.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 125/3 after 14 overs. Kohli: 41* (32), Livingstone: 14* (9)
Looks like Liam Livingstone has been asked by the RCB think tank to play his shots. Right after the strategic timeout, the English batter charged down on the very first ball from Chahal and struck his first six of the innings. Kohli too played a slog sweep to fetch him the third four of his innings.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 111/3 after 13 overs. Kohli: 35* (29), Livingstone: 6* (6)
It feels like deja vu looking at how Virat Kohli is playing. It takes fans back to the 2023 ODI World Cup final, where the right-handed batter struggled to get going. Kudos to Shreyas Iyer and his bowlers, who have managed to keep the RCB batter pretty quiet.
Yuzvendra Chahal came into the attack right after Patidar’s wicket. The leg-spinner gave away only six runs in the over. Vijaykumar Vyshak, returning for his third over, followed up with a quiet over as well. Despite bowling two wides in the over, only eight runs were scored in the over.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 97/3 after 11 overs. Kohli: 28* (22), Livingstone: 1* (1)
Kyle Jamieson has been brought into the attack. The possible ploy from Shreyas Iyer was to attack Patidar with the fast bowler, given his prowess against spin. The RCB skipper was up to the mark and struck a six over the long-off boundary on the third ball. But the move worked in the end as the tall Kiwi pacer trapped Patidar in front of the stumps to send him back to the dressing room.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 87/2 after 10 overs. Kohli: 27* (21), Patidar: 18* (12)
Azmatullah Omarzai is doing a fine job as the fifth bowler. The Afghan pacer was hit for a boundary in the over by Virat Kohli. It was only the second boundary for the right-handed batter and the first after the fourth over.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 80/2 after 9 overs. Kohli: 21* (18), Patidar: 17* (9)
Rajat Patidar is one of the finest players of spin bowling. The RCB skipper is showing signs of taking the attack against Yuzvendra Chahal. The right-handed batter struck a huge six on the third ball of the over.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 69/2 after 8 overs. Kohli: 19* (15), Patidar: 8* (6)
Vyshak continued with his spell and came on to bowl the eighth over. The right-arm pacer was welcomed in his second over with a four by Rajat Patidar. The Shreyas Iyer-led unit has managed to keep Virat Kohli off the strike for the majority of the innings so far. In spite of opening the innings, the former RCB skipper has only faced 15 balls at the end of the eighth over.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 61/2 after 7 overs. Kohli: 17* (13), Patidar: 2* (2)
Yuzvendra Chahal got straight into the attack right after the power play restrictions were lifted. The former RCB man struck on his second ball of the over and dismissed Mayank Agarawal.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 55/1 after 6 overs. Kohli: 13* (10), Agarawal: 24* (17)
Vijaykumar Vyshak came on to bowl the final over of the power play. The right-arm pacer was struck for a four by Agarawal. It was not a clear hit, and there was a slight chance of making a catch.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 46/1 after 5 overs. Kohli: 12* (8), Agarawal: 16* (13)
Arshdeep Singh has been replaced in the attack as Azmatullah Omarzai comes on to bowl. The Afghan medium pacer bowled the first over in the innings without being hit for a boundary. Only seven runs came off the fifth over.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 39/1 after 4 overs. Kohli: 7* (4), Agarawal: 14* (11)
Virat Kohli, after facing only a couple of deliveries in the first three overs, struck his first boundary. He smashed Jamieson for a four on the first ball of the over. Agarawal too struck a four on the third ball. The Kiwi pacer finished the over with three dots.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 34/1 after 3 overs. Kohli: 2* (2), Agarawal: 10* (7)
After a disappointing first over, Arshdeep has bounced back for the better part of the second over. The left-arm pacer gave only five runs on the first five balls. However, he could not close out the over and was hit for a six on the final ball by Mayank Agarawal.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 19/1 after 2 overs. Kohli: 1* (1), Agarawal: 1* (2)
Phil Salt was off to a flying start. After hitting a couple of boundaries in the first over, the right-hander struck a four on the first ball he faced from Kyle Jamieson in the second over. The Kiwi pacer induced a false strike from the English batter, who was looking for a big shot. Shreyas Iyer, running back from mid-on, took a solid catch and made it look pretty easy.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 13/0 after 1 over. Salt: 12* (6), Kohli: 0* (0)
Arshdeep Singh found some movement in the air with the ball swinging in both directions. The left-arm pacer holds a fabulous record against Phil Salt and dismissed him twice during the league stage. There was a close shave that saved Salt on the third ball of the over. The English batter hit a six over the fine-leg boundary, which was only a few inches away from the fielder. Arshdeep dished out another short ball that reached only Salt’s hips, and he was struck for a four.
PBKS won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
The rain gods, after making an appearance a few hours before the final, have seemed to have gone away. The chances of there being any rain during the final are pretty minuscule. It was a late start to Qualifier 2 at the same venue. However, the skies are clear, and the final clash could be played in the normal stipulated time.
Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to win the 18th season of the Indian Premier League. Sunak called RCB his team, saying, “I'm married into a Bangalore family, so RCB is my team.” He further admitted that he proposed to his wife, Akshata Murty, in the Kannada language. Sunak is currently in India as they chase down their first trophy.
Sai Sudharsan could be creating history tonight even though he won’t be playing in the IPL 2025 Final. The left-handed batter for the Gujarat Titans recorded a great season. He is in pole position to win the Orange Cap with 759 runs. Along with the Orange Cap, Sudharsan could also be named the Player of the Series as well as the Emerging Player of the Season. The 23-year-old will be present at the Narendra Modi Stadium to receive every award that he goes on to win tonight.
Two of the stalwarts of not only the Royal Challengers Bengaluru but the Indian Premier League have reached the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. There is no doubt that they will be cheering for RCB. Having played for the franchise for a long time, they have suffered a few heartbreaks over the years. A win tonight will end the 18-year-long wait for the Royal Challengers.
Coming into this game with wins in their previous game, both the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Punjab Kings will not be keen on making too many changes to their sides. RCB defeated PBKS in Qualifier 1 to reach the final, while the Kings had to defeat Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2. The big question for RCB that they need to answer is regarding Tim David’s fitness. The Australian power hitter had injured his hamstring against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the league stage and has been on the sidelines since then. If he is fit, then it could be a straight swap between him and Liam Livingstone.
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone/Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yuzvendra Chahal
More Links
FANTASY CRICKET TIPS
