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Krunal's match-winning spell, Arshdeep's triple-strike and other key moments from RCB's victory over PBKS in IPL final
Krunal Pandya was adjudged the 'Player of the Final' for his haul of 2/17 from four overs, which played a key role in helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru restrict Punjab Kings to 184/7 after setting them 191 to win at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. read more
Krunal Pandya's miserly spell, Arshdeep Singh's triple-strike in the 20th over and Shreyas Iyer's early dismissal were among the standout moments from the final of the 2025 Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad. AP/Reuters
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finished the 2025 Indian Premier League with a 9-0 win/loss record away from home, their latest victory coming against Punjab Kings in the final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday that finally lifted a curse. One that had prevented them from lifting the trophy for 17 long years.
RCB thus became the latest entrant in the IPL champions club and it took them 18 seasons to finally become a member when franchises such as Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans lifted the trophy on debut.
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And no one was more emotional at the Narendra Modi Stadium than Virat Kohli – the batting icon and former India and RCB captain who has called the Chinnaswamy his IPL home throughout his career, and was finally rewarded for his loyalty on Tuesday.
After pulling off a heist for the ages last year to sneak into the playoffs at the last minute only to bow out with a defeat in the Eliminator, the Royal Challengers were the standout team this season.
In Rajat Patidar's maiden season as captain, RCB narrowly missed out on the top spot at the end of the league phase thanks to PBKS' superior Net Run Rate but stamped their authority on the Shreyas Iyer-led side with a dominant 8-wicket victory in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur.
And while they had stumbled in the final hurdle not once but thrice in the past, each time under a different captain including Kohli, RCB finally lived up to their favourites' tag on Tuesday with a six-run victory over PBKS, with their bowlers playing a key role in delivering the franchise and its legion of passionate supporters a first trophy.
Here are some of the key moments from Tuesday's final:
Kohli misses out on a fifty thanks to Omarzai
Kohli was a long way off from Gujarat Titans opener Sai Sudharsan's tally of 759 runs, but would have still been hopeful of crossing the 700-run barrier for only the third time in the IPL ahead of the final, needing another 86 runs for the same.
Unfortunately for the 36-year-old, he would fall seven short of what would have been his ninth fifty of the season after getting a top-edge off a short delivery, with Azmatullah Omarzai completing a fine catch off his own bowling while running to his right.
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Arshdeep's brilliant final over denies RCB the 200-mark
Handy contributions from captain Rajat Patidar (26 off 16), Liam Livingstone (25 off 15), Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) as well as Romario Shepherd (17 off 9) had RCB staring at the prospect of setting a 200-plus target, with the score reading 187/6 at the end of the 19th.
Arshdeep Singh, however, had other plans and highlighted just why he is among the most premier of death bowlers in the current generation, conceding just three singles while collecting three wickets – including that of a set Shepherd.
Shreyas perishes for just 1
Though they lost the wicket of opener Priyansh Arya at the end of the fifth over, Punjab Kings looked fairly comfortable at 72/1 in the ninth over; it was obvious at that stage that they needed to accelerate with the asking rate starting to climb, but they had enough wickets in hand and match-winners in their batting lineup to collect the runs.
Trouble, however, began after Prabhsimran and skipper Iyer were dismissed in successive overs after the 'TimeOut', and it was the latter getting caught-behind off Shepherd's bowling over a simple poke that came as a body blow to Punjab's hopes of chasing down the 191-run target that was starting to look more difficult with each passing over.
Iyer, after all, had smashed an unbeaten 87 in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians just two days ago, the knock playing a key role in guiding the Punjab Kings into an IPL final for only the second time. And the kind of form that he has been in recent months, in international cricket as well as in the IPL and especially in crunch games, the RCB camp would have been eager to see his back as early in the chase as possible.
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Krunal chokes Punjab's scoring rate in the middle overs
PBKS, however, still had enough batters for a rescue act after Iyer's dismissal, and it was important for the Royal Challengers to not waste the momentum gained after getting rid of the key threat in the opposition batting lineup.
That's where left-arm finger spinner Krunal Pandya, who has been a handy option for skipper Patidar throughout the 18th season, stepped in with a miserly spell in which the former Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder conceded just 17 runs in four overs.
Pandya had broken the second-wicket stand between Prabhsimran and Iyer by removing the former, and would later account for a well-set Josh Inglis – who was caught at the edge of the long on boundary while trying to smash him for a maximum, departing for 39 off 23 as a result.
'Considering the last game against MI, I personally felt that 200 was a par score. They bowled brilliantly, especially Krunal, he carries a lot of experience, he has done it over a period of time. I believe that was the turning point,' Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer said in the post-match presentation ceremony in which Pandya was adjudged the 'Player of the Final'.
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Shashank smashes Hazlewood for a flurry of boundaries in vain
Shashank Singh – who had been retained along with Prabhsimran ahead of the mega auction – waged a lone battle towards the end of Punjab's chase, with wickets tumbling continuously at the other end and the required rate spiralling out of control.
The Chhattisgarh all-rounder had brought the equation down to an improbable 29 from the last over after collecting a six and a four in the 19th off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bowling. And though he did smash Josh Hazlewood for three sixes and a four in the final over to finish unbeaten on 61 off 30 balls, the big hits unfortunately came at a time when victory was already out of reach for Iyer and company.
Hazlewood, after all, put all of his effort in the first two deliveries of the final over, collecting back-to-back dots, and was left with the task of just bowling four legal deliveries thereafter. And the Aussie, who has never lost a final till date, did just that to seal a historic triumph for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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