Image Source : BCCI/IPL
On Thursday, May 29, the Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 was all about the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bowlers dominating Punjab Kings (PBKS) right through their batting innings. Suyash Sharma, the right-arm leg spinner, was a star of the show for RCB, taking three crucial wickets, to help restrict PBKS to 101 runs in 14.1 overs before Phil Salt’s unbeaten fifty took them over the finishing line with eight wickets in hand and 10 overs to spare.
For the unversed, RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. The carnage with the ball began in the second over when Yash Dayal sent Priyansh Arya back into the pavilion for seven runs in five balls, following which his fast bowling partners Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got into the act, reducing PBKS to 48/4.
While Hazlewood did for Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis, Kumar was too hot to handle for Prabhsimran Singh, and all these three batters were dismissed while trying to force the issue to balls bouncing a bit extra than initially anticipated. The wickets kept falling for PBKS after the powerplay, starting with Yash Dayal cleaning up Nehal Wadhera before Suyash Sharma got into the act with wickets of Shashank Singh and Musheer Khan in the same over.
Marcus Stoinis had struck a few boundaries in his innings before a shot too many on the bowling of Suyash Sharma led to his stumps getting shattered, and despite that, he top scored for PBKS with 26 runs in 17 balls. In pursuit of the 102-run target, RCB openers got off to a flyer with Phil Salt doing the bulk of the scoring before Virat Kohli lost his wicket to Kyle Jamieson after scoring 12 runs in 12 balls.
Following that, Mayank Agarwal shared a 54-run stand with Phil Salt before losing his wicket against the run of play to Musheer Khan. The England international ended up going past his fifty before staying unbeaten on 56 runs in 27 runs with six fours and three maximums, while Rajat Patidar hit a six to finish the match off in style, sending RCB to their fourth IPL final in history.
