RCB crush PBKS by 8 wickets, enter IPL 2025 final – indica News

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured a place in the 2025 Indian Premier League final with a dominant eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, May 29.
Opener Phil Salt led the charge with a blistering 23-ball half-century, the fastest of his IPL career, as RCB chased down a modest target of 102 with 10 overs to spare.
RCB’s bowlers set the tone early, with spinners Suyash Sharma and pacer Josh Hazlewood each claiming three wickets to dismiss Punjab Kings for just 101 in 14.1 overs. Despite the power-packed PBKS batting lineup, they struggled against RCB’s disciplined bowling and collapsed quickly.
Chasing a low total, RCB started strong with Virat Kohli finding early boundaries off Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson. However, Kohli was dismissed in the fourth over, edging a delivery from Jamieson. With the ball swinging, Jamieson troubled Mayank Agarwal, though the batter survived a review and continued his innings.
Phil Salt took charge of the chase with confident stroke-play, hitting boundaries off Azmatullah Omarzai and punishing Jamieson with a flurry of fours and a six in the final over of the powerplay.
RCB reached 61 for 1 at the end of the sixth over. Salt continued to attack, hitting Harpreet Brar for six and guiding the chase alongside Agarwal.
The partnership was broken at 54 when Agarwal edged a delivery from Musheer Khan, which was caught by Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer off a rebound at slip, but Salt reached his fifty off 23 balls soon after and kept RCB on track.
Captain Rajat Patidar joined Salt and finished the match in style, hitting the winning runs with a slog-sweep as RCB wrapped up the chase in just 10 overs.
With this win, RCB advanced to their fourth IPL final, set to be played on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Punjab Kings will have another chance to reach the final when they face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Sunday.
(Photo courtesy: ANI Photo)
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