RCB captain Rajat Patidar continues his good luck in the away games by winning the toss. They decided to bat first, with one change in their team. After multiple bad performances, Liam Livingstone made way for Romario Shepherd. Punjab Kings went unchanged after a win against the same team in Bangalore.
Punjab openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave their team a solid start, reaching 41 for no loss in just 4 overs. PBKS looked on track, but Krunal Pandya provided the breakthrough RCB needed by dismissing both openers for 22 and 33, respectively. Middle-order batters Shreyas Iyer and Nehal Wadhera couldn’t make much of an impact. However, gritty knocks from Josh Inglis, Marco Jansen, and Shashank Singh helped PBKS set a target of 158 runs for RCB.
Despite the below-par target, the Punjab bowlers backed themselves to take early wickets— and they delivered. Arshdeep Singh struck early, removing the dangerous Phil Salt. Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli then entered a rebuilding phase, adding 54 runs during the powerplay. Both players added 34 more runs in the next 4 overs and looked in a pretty comfortable position.
Punjab hoped for a twist when Padikkal was dismissed while trying to accelerate the run rate. After rotating the strike for a while, Kohli and Patidar shifted gears to finish the game quickly. Even though Patidar got out, RCB scored 12 runs in that over. Kohli and Jitesh Sharma wrapped up the chase with an over to spare. With this win, RCB moved up to 3rd place, gaining a boost in their net run rate.
Fans react to RCB’s comfortable win over Punjab Kings in IPL 2025
Fans celebrated RCB’s win over Punjab Kings, with many calling it the perfect revenge. One fan praised Padikkal’s crucial innings and felt he deserved the Man of the Match award. Others hailed Kohli as the “chase master.” Others agreed to it and labeled him as one of the greatest ever in run chases.
One fan talked about the Rajasthan Royals’ recent failure in run chases. Another fan said Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag should learn something from Kohli. Many fans believed that RCB would finish in the top 4 spots, looking at their decent run of form. Here are some of the top reactions from fans:
However, some fans criticized Kohli for playing a bit too slowly and felt he should have focused more on improving the team’s net run rate. One user even said Padikkal’s innings was better, as he batted at a higher strike rate. Others were impressed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood’s death bowling, as they gave away just 28 runs in the last 4 overs.
