Stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma delivered a breathtaking performance to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) into Qualifier 1, as they defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their final league fixture at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, 27 May.
Jitesh’s unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls led RCB to successfully chase down a daunting target of 228 — their highest-ever successful run chase in IPL history. It also marked his maiden IPL half-century, overshadowing a stunning century earlier in the match by LSG skipper Rishabh Pant.
The chase appeared to falter after Virat Kohli was dismissed for 54, leaving RCB needing 105 runs from 52 balls with just six wickets in hand. Having fallen short in a similar scenario against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Jitesh made no such mistake this time. Combining composure with controlled aggression, the wicketkeeper-batter not only stabilised the innings but also kept the scoreboard ticking at an accelerating pace.
He stitched together a match-winning, unbroken 107-run partnership with Mayank Agarwal for the fifth wicket. A turning point came when Digvesh Rathi dismissed him off a no-ball — a lifeline that Jitesh fully capitalised on.
After being named Player of the Match, Jitesh reflected on his approach during the tense run chase: “I can’t express my thoughts, I was thinking about just staying in the present. When Virat got out I thought of taking the game deep and that is what my mentor (Dinesh Karthik) tells me that the kind of calibre I have I can finish the game from any situation.”
With this win, RCB finished second in the IPL 2025 league stage and will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Qualifier 1 at Mullanpur.
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