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Kohli guides Bengaluru to first IPL title

cricket03 June 2025 18:09| © AFP
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their tense and emotional 18-year wait for an IPL title with a gripping, six-run win against the Punjab Kings in the Grand Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Despite a mostly immaculate bowling display from Punjab which frustrated the RCB batsmen for the majority of the innings they fought gallantly to post a highly competitive total of 190-9 before restricting Punjab to 184-7 in reply.

All of RCB’s top seven batsmen reached double figures with four unable to progress beyond the 20s with Punjab’s bowlers, led by Arshdeep Singh (3-40) and New Zealander Kyle Jamieson (3-48), answering every attempt to counter-attack.

Phil Salt’s 3am arrival in Ahmedabad from England after attending the birth of his first child was commendable but not ideal preparation and the opener swiped Jamieson to mid-on for 16 from nine balls.

Mayank Agarwal (24 from 18) pulled Arshdeep straight to deep square leg.

Captain Rajat Patidar (26 from 16) was trapped lbw by Jamieson’s slower ball and top scorer Virat Kohli (43 from 35 balls with just three fours) was undone by Afghan seamer Azmatullah Omarzai’s bouncer, top-edging a hook back to the bowler who briefly collided with non-striker Liam Livingstone before holding the catch.

Livingstone’s 25 from 15 balls ended with an lbw against a Jamieson full-toss which he rightly reviewed only to see the reply illustrating the narrowest contact with leg stump.

Jitesh Sharma’s hard-hitting 24 from 10 balls also ended slightly unfortunately with a Vijaykumar Vyshak delivery deflecting from an inside edge onto off stump.

Romario Shepherd delivered yet another mini cameo with 17 from nine balls before becoming the first of three wickets for Arshdeep in the final over when he was palpably lbw to swinging yorker.

Punjab’s run-chase followed a similar pattern with the top three batsmen scoring between 24 and 39 before perishing.

Josh Hazlewood (1-54) accounted for Priyansh Singh (26) but it was left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (4-0-17-2) who made the critical strikes having both Prabhsimran Singh (26) and Josh Inglis (39) caught on the boundary with his subtle and customary changes of pace and angle.

Thirty-three-year-old ‘veteran’ Shashank Singh fought gallantly in a losing cause with an unbeaten 61 from just 30 balls but another veteran, swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-38) claimed two more critical wickets to close the game out.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood.

PUNJAB KINGS: Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

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