Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) waited nine years to reach the IPL Finals again after 8 wicket victory over the Punjab Kings (PBK) in Qualifying 1 of the IPL 2025 season. Former RCB cricketer AB De Villiers shed tears following the team’s victory during the playoffs game.
Royal Challenger Bengaluru reached its fourth IPL final and made its appearance since 2016, when Ab de Villiers played a key role in winning Qualifying 1. The Bengaluru franchise has yet to secure the coveted IPL trophy, which lost all three previous final matches.
Viewer: ab de villiers revealed that Virat Kohli banned him from saying the Bengaluru phrase
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Ab de Villiers revealed that Virat Kohli asked him to avoid saying the famous Kannada phrase “Ee Sala Cup Namde” (“This year’s cup is ours”). Talking ESPN Cricinfo, Ab de Villiers urged the fans to continue to be excited as they believe their team is going to win the title.
“The time has come. RCB is on the way forward. Virat said he can’t say that anymore, so we cannot say Bengaluru terminology. But we believe we will go all the way this season.
The Rajat Patidar-led team will play the grand finale at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) will all compete for the second spot in the final.
RCB offers dominant bowling display after winning a toss
RCB presented a dominant bowling performance after winning a toss at Muranpur at Maharajada Bindrasin International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, May 29th. For the RCB, Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma each picked up three wickets.
Punjab lost five wickets in just 50 runs in seven overs, including Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shrayas Iyer, Josh Inglis and Nehal Wadhera. Musheer Khan came as an impact player but was fired for the duck. Marcus Stoinis scored 26 runs from 17 balls before being fired by Suyash.
Suyash Sharma, named Match Player, for the bowling spell that won a match
In response, RCB chased a 102-run target in just 10 overs. Phil Salt scored 56 from just 27 balls. He shared a 30 run stand with Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli was fired at 12. Mayank Agarwal chipped in at 19 before falling to Musheer Khan.
Salt shifted gear in the final of the Power Play and reached his fastest IPL half-century. Captain Rajat Patidar sealed the highlighted victory, finishing the game with six Masias over deep midwickets.
Suyash Sharma was selected as a match player with 17 spells. The Punjab Kings will win another chance to reach the finals when they scored the Eliminator winner between the Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Titans in Qualifying 2 on Sunday, June 1st.
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