PBKS vs RCB Highlights, IPL 2025 Qualifier 1: Salt's 23-ball fifty helps RCB thrash PBKS by 8 wickets, storm into final

Suyash had collected 2/26 the last time RCB had played PBKS in Mullanpur, which was in the previous month in which the visiting team had collected a seven-wicket victory.

Not only has the leg-spinner produced an even better spell tonight, RCB have also come up with a more clinical all-round performance to blow PBKS away in their own backyard.

Shreyas Iyer decides to give left-arm spinner Musheer an over with the match having already slipped out of Punjab Kings’ grasp. Musheer, who had been dismissed for a duck on IPL debut earlier in the evening, gets smashed for a six and a four in consecutive deliveries by Mayank Agarwal (19), which brings up the fifty partnership with Salt, before getting the RCB ‘Impact Sub’ caught by Shreyas near leg slip after an inside-edge that got a deflection off the keeper’s pad.

PBKS needed to use their review for the dismissal though as the umpire initially assumed it to be a case of a bump ball. RCB 85/2 after 8; need 17 from 12 overs

Or will Punjab Kings pull off an encore of their magical performance against Kolkata Knight Riders at the same venue last month, in which they pulled off a thrilling 16-run victory despite getting bowled out for 111?

Stay tuned to find out with RCB’s chase set to get underway in a moment!

PBKS: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson; Impact Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett.

RCB: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma; Impact Subs: Mayank Agarawal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh.

And he announces one huge change for RCB – Josh Hazlewood returning in place of Nuwan Thushara!

One change for Punjab Kings as well – with Azmatullah Omarzai coming in place of Marco Jansen, who has had to return to South Africa to prepare for the World Test Championship final.

“You look at Priyansh Arya. He has been a revelation for us at the top of the order. I must have watched, I don’t know how many hours of video I watched on him going into the auction, but he was the one that I wanted to make sure that we got,” Ponting told PTI.

“Prabh is probably the obvious one when you talk about playing for India. Still only 24 years of age. I read somewhere the other day that he’s now got the most runs for an uncapped player in IPL history.

“Wadhera is someone that I think could play for India as well in the middle order. And Shashank, you’ve only got to look at the cold, hard numbers with him. His strike rate and boundary percentage at the end of innings is as good as anyone going around.

“So again, this year, he struck at 185 or something like that (in the league stage). All four of those guys could play. As I said, Brar’s been outstanding for us, Vyshak is also on the radar (for the national selectors),” he added.

RCB have been an absolute beast away from home this season, having won all seven matches that they have played which includes a seven-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in Mullanpur last month.

Can they make it 8-0 away from home this season later tonight? Or will Shreyas Iyer’s men end their winning streak? Stay tuned to find out.

Since moving into their new home ground last season, Punjab Kings have played nine matches at the New PCA Stadium – winning three and losing six.

While they had lost four out of five matches at this venue last season, their record here is slightly better this year with two wins and as many defeats, including a loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Punjab Kings had defeated Mumbai Indians in a direct shootout for a top-two finish, with Josh Inglis and Priyansh Arya’s fiery half-centuries and Arshdeep Singh’s disciplined bowling helping Shreyas Iyer’s men cruise to a seven-wicket victory after being set 185 to win.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the the other hand, had Jitesh Sharma rise to the occasion with an unbeaten 85 off 33 balls in a dramatic match against Lucknow Super Giants in which opposition skipper Rishabh Pant signed off with a 54-ball century. Jitesh’s heroic knock helped them chase down 228 – making it the third-highest successful chase in IPL history.

The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium isn’t as high-scoring a venue as the others, with 170 being an average first innings total and the 200-mark having been breached just thrice.

While batters get good support early in the game and are assisted by a quick outfield, the spinners will come into the game as it progresses.

With Josh Hazlewood expected to make his first appearance for the Royal Challengers after a month, we take a look at the predicted playing XI for Rajat Patidar’s side:

Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma

While Mullanpur has experienced a scorching day so far with the temperature going as high as the 46 degree Celsius mark, the evening is expected to be more tolerable with the temperature hovering around the 32 degree-mark.

That said, there’s a zero per cent chance of rain, so we should have a full game tonight. But if the match did end in a washout, PBKS would have gained direct entry into the final as they had finished top of the points table.

With Yuzvendra Chahal likely to feature in the playoffs after missing the last two games due to a wrist issue, here’s PBKS’ predicted playing XI for the upcoming match:

Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have met each other just once at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, a.k.a. the New PCA Stadium.

This was last month, 20 April to be more precise, when Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 73 to guide his team to a seven-wicket victory. Will Bengaluru make it 2-0 against Punjab at this venue or will Shreyas Iyer’s side fight back?

Here’s PBKS and RCB’s record in their last five games:

PBKS: W, L, W, W, W

RCB: W, L, NR, W, W

Punjab Kings haven’t reached the IPL final since 2014, which was also the last time they reached the playoffs.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’ last appearance in a final was in 2016, two years later, meaning they haven’t reached a final in nearly a decade either.