Rain shortened the IPL 2025 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to 14 overs per side on Friday in Bengaluru. Once the weather cleared, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl first.

RCB’s innings began poorly. Opener Phil Salt fell for just 4 runs in the very first over. Then, skipper Rajat Patidar joined Virat Kohli at the crease, hoping to steady the innings. However, Arshdeep Singh struck again in the third over, dismissing Kohli for just 1 run. By then, RCB had slumped to 21/2 in only 2.4 overs.

Although Patidar tried to build momentum, he couldn’t find solid partnerships. He eventually departed in the eighth over after scoring 23 off 18 balls. Only Tim David offered resistance, staying unbeaten with a crucial 50*, which helped RCB crawl to 95/9 in 14 overs.

Patidar Blames Batting Line-Up for Loss

While chasing a modest target of 96, PBKS achieved victory comfortably. They reached 98/5 in 12.1 overs, sealing the win by five wickets. After the match, Rajat Patidar expressed his disappointment and criticised RCB’s batting performance.

“Initially it was sticking, and was two-paced. But I think we could have done far better as a batting unit. Partnerships are important in batting. We have been losing wickets in intervals,” Patidar said, clearly frustrated by the team’s collapse.

Except for Patidar and David, no other RCB batter managed to cross double digits. Salt (4), Kohli (1), Liam Livingstone (4), Jitesh Sharma (2), Krunal Pandya (1), Manoj Bhandage (1), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8), and Yash Dayal (0) all failed to deliver with the bat.

Wadhera Finishes Strong for Punjab

In PBKS’s chase, Nehal Wadhera played a match-winning knock. He remained unbeaten on 33 runs from just 19 balls and smashed the winning six to end the game in style.

With this win, Punjab Kings now sit in second place on the points table with five wins and two losses. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have dropped to fourth, with four wins and three defeats.

Hazlewood’s Efforts Go in Vain

Despite the defeat, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood delivered a brilliant performance. He picked up three wickets while conceding just 14 runs in his three overs. However, his efforts couldn’t change the outcome, as RCB’s batters had already left too little to defend.