Royal Challengers Bengaluru were crowned Indian Premier League champions for the first time on Tuesday night, defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in a tense IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. After 18 seasons of near misses and heartbreaks, RCB finally secured their maiden IPL title. Chasing 191 runs, Punjab Kings finished at 184 for 7 in 20 overs. RCB posted 190 for 9 after a steady batting effort on a pitch that favoured batsmen.
Virat Kohli led the innings with 43 runs off 35 balls. However, he struggled to accelerate scoring and hit only three fours. RCB scored 55 for 1 in the powerplay but slowed down in the middle overs, adding only 42 runs between overs six and 11. Most batsmen started well but failed to make big scores.
Phil Salt gave RCB a bright start with a six and a four in the first over. But he was soon caught by Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer at mid-on off Kyle Jamieson’s bowling. Jamieson was impressive, taking three wickets for 48 runs. He bowled a clever slow yorker to dismiss Rajat Patidar leg before wicket and trapped Liam Livingstone lbw with a full toss.
Punjab’s Jitesh Sharma and Livingstone tried to push the scoring in the 17th over, hitting 23 runs, including two sixes from Sharma. But Jamieson ended the over strongly.
Punjab bowler Arshdeep Singh recovered after a costly start. He took three wickets in the final over, dismissing Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Romario Shepherd. Shepherd had threatened to take RCB past 200 with a six and a four.
The victory gave Royal Challengers Bengaluru their first IPL title, with Kohli finally achieving the milestone in his IPL career. Punjab Kings fought hard but could not chase down the target on a day when RCB’s bowlers held firm in the closing stages.
