To record his 67th fifty-plus score, the most by any hitter in IPL history, Kohli remained undefeated at 73. RCB VS PBKS
Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings 157 for 6 (Prabhsimran 33, Shashank 31, Krunal 2-25, Suyash 2-26) by seven wickets with 159 for 3 (Kohli 73, Padikkal 61).
In the IPL 2025, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won another away game. This was their fifth straight victory, moving them up to third place and 10 points. Less than 48 hours after losing at home, RCB traveled north to Mullanpur and thoroughly retaliated against Punjab Kings (PBKS).
The PBKS were held to 156 for 7, with the RCB bowlers barely giving anything away. Virat Kohli, the chasemaster, responded by recording his 67th fifty-plus score in the IPL, which is the highest for any batter. In addition, Devdutt Padikkal scored his first IPL fifty of the year as RCB easily won by seven wickets and with seven balls remaining.
RCB bowled on what Rajat Patidar described as a “decent” surface without hesitation. Prabhsimran Singh was outstanding as PBKS hammered 62 in the powerplay, giving the impression that the opening six overs were more than merely passable.
After that, it was one-way traffic as the RCB spinners took center stage. As RCB controlled the scoring in the middle overs, Suyash Sharma returned 2 for 26 after Krunal Pandya took 2 for 25 in his four overs. Then, with PBKS barely gaining an inch, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered a masterpiece in death bowling.
Arshdeep Singh claimed Phil Salt’s fourth T20 century in the chase, but Kohli and Padikkal kept RCB on course with 103 off 69 balls for the second wicket. As RCB maintained their perfect away record, Kohli held his own to remain undefeated at 73 off 54 despite Padikkal and Patidar falling.
The chasemaster RCB VS PBKS
When it comes to Kohli, chasing mediocre totals is inevitable. It appears that he has the scoring all worked out. When to attack, when to hold back, the necessary rate, and the number of runs to score. All those liberties came from a 158-chase. Within the powerplay, he blasted five fours in his
first 20 balls. He then hit zero for the next twenty-four balls. He was happy to take the ones and the twos, giving the blow to Padikkal, who was more aggressive, but he made care to remain in place. After reaching fifty off forty-three balls, he hit two fours and a six. He remained undefeated until the very end, helping RCB cross the finish line with plenty of time left.
With his 73*, Kohli achieved his 67th fifty-plus score in the IPL, the most ever by a batter in the league’s history. Kohli would be quite happy that the RCB won.
Padikkal’s Triumphant Tomeback RCB VS PBKS
Padikkal has had a rocky IPL 2025. In truth, it’s been a patchwork couple of years in the IPL. When he was playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2023, he coincidentally faced PBKS and scored his final fifty in the competition. But he has performed well when it has mattered.
The opening ball was upper-cut, and Padikkal was beaten. Nevertheless, he continued and cut Arshdeep over the goalie for four the following ball. Since Kohli was playing well, he decided to be aggressive. Before hammering Xavier Bartlett over the line for six, he hit an all-run four. Yuzvendra Chahal was hit across the line for six after Harpreet Brar was slapped for four. Padikkal reached his fifty off of thirty balls in a flash.
For the first time in 14 IPL innings and the first time since May 2023, Padikkal’s face showed some relief as he raised his bat after receiving a high five from Kohli.
Before he eventually held out to long-on for a 35-ball 61, he gave RCB some cruise control in the chase after celebrating by going 4 and 6 against Marcus Stoinis.
The powerplay of PBKS to keep in mind
But six overs into the game, the narrative took a very different turn. Bhuvneshwar opened with a two-run first over and has a strong matchup with Prabhsimran. However, PBKS owned the next five. Yash Dayal was picked up by Priyansh Arya, which sparked the hosts’ six counter.
Before Prabhsimran hammered Bhuvneshwar for three fours in the third over—a guide past short third, a slap through point, and a draw through midwicket—he drove Dayal through the covers once more.
23 runs were removed from Hazlewood’s opening two overs by Arya and Prabhsimran. Arya lost to Krunal, with his top edge reaching mid-off, but PBKS had the powerplay the entire time at 62 for 1.
The middle-over squeeze
So far this season, RCB has frequently depended on their pacers to take wickets. The RCB spinners took center stage on Sunday. David caught Prabhsimran at long-on after he was unable to clear the first ball during the powerplay. V Shortly after, Romario Shepherd claimed his first wicket of the season when Krunal moved to his left from long-on and caught Shreyas Iyer for six. Iyer’s season has been all or nothing. He’s scored five runs under ten and three over fifty in eight innings.
Nehal Wadhera walked back after a needless run-out, and Suyash dismissed Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis in a single over as PBKS fell to 114 for 6 after 14. RCB VS PBKS It was always going to harm PBKS because they only managed 67 runs and lost five wickets in the middle overs (between seven and 17).
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A masterclass in death-overs
Marco Jansen and Shashank Singh were comparatively set by the time the seventeenth over came around. Both of these batters are capable of hitting a long ball and have an outstanding death-overs strike rate. However, Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar had different ideas.
With a true masterclass in death bowling, the pair left PBKS in ruins. The pair gave up just one boundary, a six off the penultimate ball of the innings, and hit eight yorkers in the final four overs, according to ball-by-ball stats from ESPNcricinfo. Even though PBKS scored just 28 runs in these four overs without losing a wicket, that was never going to be enough.
