Ahmedabad, June 4 (H.S.): Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has won the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 trophy by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 6 runs. With this victory, RCB has ended a 17-year wait. In the final match played in Ahmedabad, RCB batted first and scored 190 runs, while Punjab could only manage 184 runs in response. Chasing a target of 191 runs, Punjab Kings got off to a quick start thanks to uncapped openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. However, Priyansh was dismissed after scoring 24 runs. Then Josh English partnered with Prabhsimran to carry the innings forward. At one point, Punjab's score was 72 runs for the loss of one wicket. After that, they lost three wickets while adding just 26 runs. Captain Shreyas Iyer could only score one run, while Nehal Wadhera contributed 15 runs and Marcus Stoinis made 6 runs.
However, Shashank Singh held the fort from the other end, helping the team move towards the target. In the last over, the team needed 29 runs for victory, but Shashank could only manage 22 runs despite all efforts. Thus, Punjab fell short of the target by 6 runs.From RCB, Krunal Pandya delivered an exceptional bowling performance, taking two crucial wickets for just 17 runs in four overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also claimed two wickets.
Meanwhile, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, and Romario Shepherd each picked up one wicket.Earlier, after losing the toss and batting first, Bangalore had a quick start but Phil Salt was dismissed early, scoring just 16 runs off 9 balls. Then Virat Kohli, in partnership with Mayank Agarwal, added 38 runs for the second wicket. Mayank scored 24 runs. Similarly, small partnerships formed as the team progressed. Captain Rajat Patidar scored 26 runs, Kohli made 43, Liam Livingstone contributed 25 runs, Romario Shepherd added 17, and Jitesh Sharma scored 24 runs.Punjab's Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson both took three wickets, while Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijay Kumar, and Yuzvendra Chahal each claimed one wicket.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
