After 18 years of waiting and heartbreak in three previous finals, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have finally clinched their first-ever IPL title. In a thrilling IPL 2025 final held in Ahmedabad on Monday, Virat Kohli’s side edged out Punjab Kings by 6 runs to lift the coveted trophy.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, RCB posted a competitive total of 190/9 in their 20 overs. Captain Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell played crucial roles with the bat, stabilizing the innings after early setbacks.
In reply, Punjab Kings put up a spirited chase but ultimately fell short, managing 184 runs in their 20 overs.
Punjab started strongly in their chase of 191, with openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya putting on a 43-run opening stand. However, the momentum shifted quickly. Prabhsimran was dismissed for 26 off 22 balls, and captain Shreyas Iyer followed soon after for just 1.
Josh Inglis looked promising but couldn’t convert his start, scoring 39 off 23 deliveries. Nehal Wadhera struggled as well, making only 15 off 18 balls. In the end, it was Shashank Singh who waged a lone battle, hammering 61 off 30 balls with six sixes and three fours, but it wasn’t enough to get his team over the line.
Krunal Pandya was the standout bowler for RCB, delivering a match-winning spell of 2 wickets for just 17 runs in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also claimed 2 wickets. With just 6 runs needed in the final over, Punjab couldn’t get the job done, falling short by a narrow margin.
Earlier, RCB’s innings got off to a shaky start as opener Phil Salt was dismissed with only 18 on the board. Kohli and Mayank Agarwal added a 38-run partnership for the second wicket before Agarwal departed for 24. The scoring rate was slow, and pressure mounted as Rajat Patidar was dismissed for 26.
Kohli played a composed knock of 43 off 35 balls before falling to Azmatullah Omarzai. Late cameos from Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) and Liam Livingstone (25 off 15) boosted RCB’s total, adding 22 runs in the last 3 overs to reach 190.
For Punjab, Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson were the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets each.
With this hard-fought victory, RCB finally ended their title drought, making IPL 2025 a historic season for the franchise and its fans.
