The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) secured a spot in the finals of the IPL 2025 season after a commanding victory against the Punjab Kings on May 29 at Maharaja Yadavindra International Cricket Stadium.

After a clinical bowling performance, RCB secured an 8-wicket victory with Phil Salt’s impressive fifty in the low-scoring encounter.

Punjab Kings will be playing in the second qualifier against the Eliminators Winners as a last resort for getting into the finals. Batting first, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh opened the innings while Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened the bowling attack.

With the dismissal of Arya for 7 runs, Prabhsimran Singh lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 18 runs.

Meanwhile, Hazlewood made a stunning spell picking the wickets of Josh Inglis and Shreyas Iyer within the powerplay to collapse the Punjab Kings’ top order in the game.

After Yash Dayal dismissed Nehal Wadhera for 8 runs, Suyansh Sharma went on to dismiss Shashank Singh, Musheer Khan and Marcus Stoinis putting Punjab at tough spot with 8 wickets for 78 runs.

However, Azmatullah Omarzai tried to drag the innings, but Hazlewood went on to dismiss him for 18 runs forcing Punjab to complete their innings for 101 runs.

In the pursuit of chasing 101 runs, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt opened the innings while Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling attack.

After Virat Kohli’s dismissal for 12 runs by Jamieson, Mayank Agarwal joined Phil Salt to push side’s score for 61 runs in the powerplay.

With Mayank Agarwal’s dismissal for 19 runs, Phil Salt went on to score 56* runs off 27 deliveries while Rajat Patidar secured 15* runs to post 106 runs in 10 overs with 60 balls to spare.

Punjab Kings Playing 11: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (W), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Playing 11: Virat Kohli, Philip salt, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (W), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh HazleWod, Suyash Sharma