RCB and Kohli break 18-year jinx with maiden IPL title

Public Lokpal
June 04, 2025

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RCB and Kohli break 18-year jinx with maiden IPL title

AHMEDABAD: Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Virat Kohli washed away 18 years of hurt and disappointment on a dream Tuesday night, conquering Punjab Kings by six runs to lift their maiden Indian Premier League title here on Tuesday.

The final turned out to be a battle of nerves and RCB certainly channelled their years of disappointment and pain to come back roaring in the contest and seal a commanding victory.

A partisan crowd did not give up on RCB even as they struggled to find the flourish with the bat and ended up posting a total of 190/9 with superstar Kohli making a laborious 35-ball 43.

At the break, RCB’s total did not look enough but a persistent effort from their bowlers made the scoreboard pressure ultimately work in their favour.

With 29 needed off the final over, RCB’s win was sealed when Josh Hazlewood bowled the second dot ball on the trot. Shashank Singh struck a valiant 61 not out off 30 balls (3x4s, 6x6s), but his effort came far too late as Punjab Kings ended at 184 for seven.

Josh Hazlewood provided the first breakthrough, Krunal Pandya bowled a dream spell of 4-0-17-2 in a summit clash but it was Romario Shepherd’s dismissal of PBKS’ gun captain Shreyas Iyer that finally indicated which way the game was headed.

All it took was an innocuous delivery outside off to see the back of the most dangerous batter in the final as Iyer, coming off a terrific knock in Qualifier 2, edged it behind off Shepherd and walked back with his head dropped.

While RCB were not only a tad conservative in the big final, luck also did not favour the fourth-time finalists chasing their maiden trophy a great deal, as each of their batters perished after getting a start.

And there were no fireworks on the night of the big final as Kohli, looking to anchor the innings the way he has done in the past, perished after his laborious effort in the middle.

Kohli struck a mere three fours – two after the ninth over – as he got his 43 runs off 35 balls at 122.85.

RCB’s slowing down post the powerplay, in which they scored 55/1, also saw their batters farming the strike rather than taking initiative to aim for big overs with only 42 runs coming between overs 6-11.

PTI