3 Reasons PBKS Lost To RCB in IPL Qualifier 1: The Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated the Punjab Kings by 10 wickets while chasing 102 runs in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League 2025. The match was played on Wednesday, May 28, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium (New PCA Stadium) in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh).
The Punjab Kings finished the season on top of the table with nine wins, one washout, four losses, 19 points, and a positive net run rate in the league stage. PBKS started their season with a win against GT, and then came one against LSG. This was followed by their first loss of the season to RR, before a win over CSK and a defeat to SRH. Punjab then won against KKR and RCB back-to-back and then lost the reverse fixture to RCB. After a no result against KKR, the Kings won three in a row against CSK, LSG, and RR. In their last two games, they lost one to DC and won against MI. Now in Qualifier 1, they have lost to RCB.
Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their league stage with the same stats, with nine wins, four losses, one washout, 19 points, and a positive net run rate. But they finished second in the table. RCB started their season with wins over KKR and CSK before losing their first of the season to GT. A win over MI was followed by a defeat to DC, which preceded a victory against RR. After a loss to PBKS, the Royal Challengers won four games in a row against PBKS, RR, DC, and CSK. After this, their match against KKR was abandoned due to rain. Bengaluru then lost against SRH, defeated LSG in their last league stage game, and has now beaten the Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 to make their way into the IPL 2025 final.
Today, we will look back at three reasons why PBKS, who finished on top of the league table, lost this Qualifier 1 at home.
Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 3 Reasons PBKS Lost To RCB in IPL Qualifier 1
3) Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood Wreak Havoc
It was a stellar bowling performance by RCB in today’s Qualifier 1. The entire bowling attack bowled quite well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled two overs in the powerplay, conceded seven, and took Prabhsimrah Singh’s wicket. Yash Dayal bowled four overs for 2/26, dismissing Priyansh Arya and Nehal Wadhera. Romario Shepherd bowled one, conceded five runs, and dismissed Harpreet Brar. Krunal Pandya bowled only one over too and gave away 10 runs.
But the undisputed stars of the show for RCB’s bowling were Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood. Let’s talk about Hazlewood first, who recently returned to the Royal Challengers’ camp and played his first match since the league stoppage in mid-May. The Australian pacer demolished the PBKS batting order today, dismissing crucial batters like Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis and then sniffing out a resistant tail by getting Azmatullah Omarzai out. The veteran fast bowler bowled 3.1 overs, gave away just 21 runs at 6.63 rpo, and took three wickets.
Then comes Suyash Sharma, who has the best night of his short career today. Sharma cleaned out the Punjab middle order today. He first bowled Shashank Singh with a googly, caught Musheer Khan in front of the stumps in the same over, and then bowled Stoinis with another googly. Suyash ended his three-over spell with figures of 3/17 with an economy of 5.67.
Check Out: 3 Reasons PBKS Lost To RCB in IPL Qualifier 1
2) A Comprehensive Chase
While the Bengaluru-based franchise was chasing a small total, seeing how the pitch reacted in the first inning, a reckless chase could spell disaster for RCB. And so, the team had to chase down this minuscule target as sharply as possible without overthinking it. Suffice it to say, that’s what happened.
Rather than taking it slow at the start, the opening pair of Virat Kohli and Phil Salt started their chase the way they do in any other match. While Salt started aggressively, Virat hit two good-looking boundaries. But then, in the fourth over, Kyle Jamieson troubled Virat, got him out for 12, and bowled a rare wicket maiden in a T20 match.
This brought Mayank Agarwal to the strike, who played a supporting role to Phil Salt, who had decided to bat like he has usually done throughout IPL 2025. It looked like the Englishman wanted to end the match early. The pair of Mayank and Phil took the team to 84 runs within eight overs before Agarwal was dismissed for 19. But by this time, the match had ended.
Captain Rajat Patidar came in at number four and finished the match in fine fashion, with a six. RCB won this Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru by eight wickets and with 10 overs to spare. RCB gave a masterclass in how to approach small chases in any format of cricket. Rather than taking it slow and disrupting the rhythm of the team, play the way that has been working for the entire season.
1) A Massive Collapse
However, it was the first inning where the Punjab Kings lost this match; the rest of the game was just a formality. Bizarrely, the pitch today in Mullapur was unlike most IPL pitches. While the tracks usually are flat, the surface today had a fair amount of grass on it. So when RCB won the toss and decided to bowl first, they had already won half the battle.
Almost immediately, the in-form opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya was broken when Arya handed a catch in the covers in the second over. In the very next over, Prabhsimran hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two fours but then got out on the final ball. Punjab knew they were in trouble when, in the fourth over, team captain Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for two and the score was 30/3.
Josh Inglis would depart for four in the sixth over, and Nehal Wadhera was dismissed for eight soon after the play ended. Shshank Singh’s wicket quickly followed in the ninth over, with the score now being 60/6 as the entire top and middle order collapsed. Musheer Khan got out for a duck in the same over.
Marcus Stoinis would be the highest scorer for his team on the day, making 26 off 17. But when the Aussie’s wicket fell in the 11th over, the score was 97/8 with only the tail remaining. Azmatullah Omarzai provided some resistance in the end, but the Kings would get out for 101 runs in 15 overs and thus all but handed the match to their opposition in this Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru match.
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