IPL 2025 Final: 18-year wait ends as RCB win maiden title

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, June 4, 2025: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru is a franchise that’s famous for its stellar batting line-up. Their bowling, often considered the Achilles Heel, has been a subject of deep criticism more often than not. But what their batters couldn’t do in three previous finals, the bowlers did on a glorious Tuesday night that will go down as the most memorable day in the history of the club.

Having chased and lost the three previous (2009, 2011 and 2016) finals, the stage was initially set for the batters to play without the pressure of a target in front of them and rewrite the wrongs of the past. But, against a fired-up Punjab Kings bowling attack who came with a plan and executed them to the hilt in a nervy final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, RCB batters huffed and puffed to settle for seemingly par 190/9 in 20 overs.

Watching all of it from the dugout and then briefly in the middle, RCB bowlers then gave Punjab a taste of their own medicine to the nervous-looking Punjab batting line-up. First it was the pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/38), Yash Dayal (1/18) and Josh Hazlewood (1/54) who ensured the free-stroking Punjab batters didn’t get off to a flying start by bowling disciplined lines and lengths.

The trio employed strategies almost similar to Punjab’s bowlers. They opted for the short of good-length deliveries and constantly took the pace off the ball with clever variations. Neither of the Punjab openers, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, could get going with only one-drop Josh Inglis finding that extra kick.

With pressure building following a sedate start, Punjab batters were forced to throw caution to the wind. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar introduced Krunal Pandya, and the veteran produced a game-changing spell to shift the momentum completely towards RCB. In four overs, he scalped the two important wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis, and gave away just 17 runs in the bargain.

And in that period when Romario Shepherd, another masterstroke from Patidar, dismissed Shreyas Iyer for just one, that left Punjab needing 112 off 62 balls. RCB knew then the trophy was coming home unless they imploded. Thankfully, they didn’t, as they continued to keep a tight leash on Punjab, and despite Shashank Singh hammering a 30-ball 61 not out in the end, they romped to a history-making win that saw Virat Kohli reduced to his haunches and in tears.

Kohli played his part in the final not in the manner he would have wanted, though. Against a disciplined Punjab bowling that hardly dished out bad balls, he found stroke-making difficult to score a painful 35-ball 43. He managed just three boundaries, and although it was as scratchy as the one in the T20 World Cup final he played last year against South Africa in the Americas, he ended up on the right side of the result.

A word of praise is merited for Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone, who ensured RCB had a competitive total to chase. Jitesh scored a brilliant 10-ball 24, while Livingstone hit 15-ball 25 that ended up making a massive difference in the end.