 "Punjab Kings middle-order batter Shashank Singh is clean bowled by Royal Challengers Bengaluru wrist-spinner Suyash Sharma during Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025 in Mullanpur. Reuters")
Royal Challengers Bengaluru hammered Punjab Kings by 8 wickets in Qualifier 1 of the 2025 Indian Premier League , becoming the first team to qualify for the final in the process. Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood collected three wickets each while Phil Salt smashed a 23-ball fifty as RCB bundled PBKS out for a meagre 101 before chasing the target down with 8 wickets and half of their overs to spare.
RCB thus have qualified for an IPL final for the fourth time, and will be entering Tuesday’s summit clash at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium as solid favourites after their clinical all-round performance on Thursday.
PBKS, on the other hand, will get another shot at qualifying for the final after topping the points table at the end of the league stage, and they will face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 – also in Ahmedabad.
How experts and fans reacted to RCB’s demolition job of PBKS in Mullanpur
Bengaluru’s dominant performance and the manner in the Punjab batters threw their wickets away despite the situation calling for more caution did lead to plenty of interesting reactions on social media. Here are select reactions: