It’s a thin line between being brave and reckless. Even in T20s. Punjab Kings chose to live by the sword in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Mullanpur and died by it. After being sent in, they lost early wickets and kept going for it instead of taking it easy for a while. All out for 101 meant it was RCB’s day and they reached the final with plenty to spare.
This was RCB’s fourth entry into the final and the first after 2016. Their bowlers made most of the bounce on offer and stuck to right lines. Several PBKS batters, skipper Shreyas Iyer included, played rash shots. They will get another chance to make it to the final in Qualifier 2 against the winners of Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. The only time they made it there was in 2014, when they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.
It was an anti-climactic game. Priyansh Arya, Prbahsimran Singh, Iyer and Jos Inglis were going great guns before this game. After Arya’s departure in the second over, Prabhsimran and Iyer got out in identical manner. They came down the wicket and swung across the line against deliveries pitched outside off stump to get caught behind. It was 30/3 in the fourth over.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar changed his bowlers around but there was no change in the approach of the PBKS batters. They kept going after the bowlers and this was one day when everything they missed hit the stumps or the pads in front of them. A few inside edges went on to disturb the wickets and there was also a stunning catch by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma which ended the innings.
Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma were the most successful bowlers. Coming in as first change, the Australian got the big wicket of Iyer and finished with 3/21 from 3.1 overs. Suyash used the googly to good effect and returned figures of 3/17 from three. Yash Dayal took 2/26 and was the only RCB bowler to finish his quota as PBKS got out in 14.1 overs.
There was no drama during the chase. Virat Kohli had a rare day off and got out for 12, but Phil Salt blew away the home team’s faint hopes with an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls. The PBKS bowlers were never in the game and RCB reached the target in a mere 10 overs for the loss of two wickets.
PBKS head for a do-or-die game now as RCB get a chance to relax a bit before the final on June 3.
For More Sports Related News: Follow RevSportz