RCB vs PBKS Highlights, IPL 2025: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru crush Punjab Kings by 7 wickets

Right then, we are done with the first game of a double header Sunday and it is RCB who are back to winning ways. Next up, it is round 2 of the 'IPL El Classico' as Mumbai Indians welcome Chennai Super Kings to the Wankhede Stadium. MI have opted to bowl first in that crucial game and you can simply switch tabs and catch our coverage. Cheers!

Virat Kohli is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH! He says that this win was crucial, as every point counts in the standings. He credits Devdutt Padikkal for making the difference in the innings and utilizing his experience. Kohli mentions that he adapted his role based on Salt's start, showcasing his ability to hold one end and accelerate when needed. He emphasizes the importance of understanding conditions and being adaptable, highlighting the team's growth and learnings from previous games. Kohli then downplays his award a bit, focusing on the team's performance.

The victorious captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajat Patidar, comes up for a chat now. He first credits the bowlers and then appreciates the way Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal batted while chasing. Says the bowlers executed their plans well and the message was pretty simple to bowl tight lines. Reflects that the wicket was on the slower side. Adds that the way they fielded was brilliant as well. Further tells that whatever errors they have made in home games, they will rectify those.

The Presentation ceremony...

Devdutt Padikkal of RCB is down for a quick chat. He believes that building a partnership with Virat Kohli after Salt's dismissal was crucial. He credited months of hard work for his recent success and said batting alongside Kohli boosts his confidence, knowing Kohli will see the team through to the end. Padikkal also expressed the significance of playing for his home city and at Chinnaswamy Stadium, eager to continue performing well for RCB.

The captain of Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer, is up for a chat. On being asked about his health, he says that he is doing well, just had a minor niggle and expects that it should be fine after this game. Points that the majority of their batters love to go big from the first ball. Admits that they are not able to capitalise on the starts. Also highlights that the wicket is getting slower and slower. Credits Virat Kohli for batting nicely. Mentions that they keep talking about adapting to the conditions of the wicket. Also thinks that a few of their middle-order batters need to step up at crunch times and need to take the bull by the horns. Tells that he is a great mind space. About his batting, he reflects by saying he just needs to cross ten runs and be free-flowing. Adds that they have a bit of an extended break, so it is important to go back to the drawing board and assess the body as well.

Earlier in the game, Rajat Patidar opted to bowl first, which Shreyas Iyer would have done as well. PBKS got off to a flying start and it was one of their best showings with the bat at this venue. However, once the Powerplay ended and the slower bowlers came to the fore, Punjab lost plenty of wickets and even after having a couple of set batters at the death, they simply couldn't accelerate. The RCB bowlers were the star of the show and once Krunal Pandya sent back both the openers, they were able to squeeze and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood nailed yorkers for fun at the death as well.

Punjab Kings had a stellar start to the season, but we are now seeing the limitations of this team to an extent. They didn't have a good score on the board but did get a wicket in the very first over. After that, though, the Powerplay and a majority of the middle phase went in favour of the opposition as they failed to pick up wickets. They did get a couple of more in the latter stages of the chase but it was already game over for the Kings in this match.

The bowlers of RCB set things up beautifully in the first innings and even after losing Phil Salt in the very first over, it was a pretty straightforward chase for the visitors. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal broke the back of the chase with a 103-run stand. Devdutt made an impact with a fiery knock of 61 as chase-master Kohli remained unbeaten on 73, notching up a record-breaking 67th IPL fifty, and saw the team through to victory.

The Royal Challengers have their revenge against the Kings, having lost a couple of nights ago to the same opposition. Punjab Kings suffer their third defeat of the season and RCB pick up their 5th win of the season, all coming away from home.

Nehal Wadhera to Jitesh Sharma, SIX! JITESH WRAPS THIS IN STYLE! Short of a length on middle and leg, Jitesh Sharma backs away and pulls this over the fence towards the deep mid-wicket region to seal the game. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have won this by 7 wickets. 

Nehal Wadhera to Virat Kohli, Quicker one on off, Virat Kohli rocks back and just guides this towards cover for a single more.  

Nehal Wadhera to Jitesh Sharma, Fuller on off, Jitesh Sharma drives this past extra cover to his left for another single. 

Nehal Wadhera to Jitesh Sharma, Too full, on the pads, Jitesh Sharma flicks this to short mid-wicket for a dot. 

Nehal Wadhera to Virat Kohli, Short of a length on leg, Virat Kohli punches this to long on for a single. 

Harpreet Brar to Virat Kohli, Floated full, on the pads. Virat Kohli moves to his leg and rolls this to long off for another single. 

Harpreet Brar to Jitesh Sharma, This is turning out to be an easy chase for RCB. Tossed up, closer to the popping crease of Jitesh. The RCB keeper runs down the track and lofts this to wide long off for a single. 

Harpreet Brar to Virat Kohli, Short and wide on off, Virat Kohli moves back and cuts it to deep point for yet another single. 

Harpreet Brar to Jitesh Sharma, RCB are chasing this in singles now. Too full on off, Jitesh Sharma pushes this past the bowler's left and to long off for one. 

Harpreet Brar to Virat Kohli, Darted around the pads, Virat Kohli rolls this to long on for another single. 

Harpreet Brar to Jitesh Sharma, Floated around middle and off, Jitesh Sharma drives this to sweeper cover for one. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Jitesh Sharma, Tossed up on off, Jitesh Sharma rocks back and pushes this in the gap on off for a single to end this over. 

Jitesh Sharma is in at number 5.

Yuzvendra Chahal to Jitesh Sharma, Even slower, around leg. Jitesh Sharma gets down on a knee and goes for a wild slog. The ball comes late and he misses it. This has marginally missed the leg-pole. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, OUT! IN THE AIR AND GONE! CAUGHT! A touch quicker this time, on off. Rajat Patidar looks to take on the tall frame of Marco Jansen at long on but the ball miscues off the toe end of his bat and Jansen doesn't make a mistake and pouches this. Rajat Patidar departs on 12 (13) and RCB are 143/3.

Yuzvendra Chahal to Virat Kohli, Fuller on off, Virat Kohli drills this to long off for a single. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Virat's threading gaps like fielders don't exist. Tossed up again, on middle and leg this time, Virat Kohli comes inside the line of it and flicks this over mid-wicket for four. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Virat Kohli, SIX! TIMING AS PRECIOUS AS GOLD! Tossed up on the pads, Virat Kohli moves to his leg a fraction and just lofts this looking for runs. The timing on this was so pure that the ball has sailed over the bowler and towards the sight screen for six runs. 

STRATEGIC BREAK. The game remains in the possession of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, with that centurion stand of 103 runs, just dashed off the possibilities of a collapse. Both notched up well-paced fifties of their own and have brought RCB in touching distance of the victory. Though Harpreet Brar got the better of Padikkal, but PBKS have lacked to take wickets at regularity. With just 26 needed off the last four overs, these two would aim to go for the kill to inflate their net run rate massively.

Arshdeep Singh to Virat Kohli, Back of a length around middle and off, Virat Kohli pulls this and calls for a single loud and clear this time. 

Arshdeep Singh to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Short and wide outside off, Virat Kohli swings and connects well enough to take this over the fielder on off behind the stumps with the ball racing to the fence for four. 

Arshdeep Singh to Virat Kohli, DRAMA! A mix-up between Rajat and Virat as they had different opinions on running the second, but the fielding side hasn't helped themselves with poor decision-making. Short-pitched, on middle and leg, Virat Kohli pulls this into the surface and towards Shashank Singh's left at deep square. A single is taken comfortably, but Virat runs aggressively for the second with Rajat, caught ball-watching. Shashank Singh fumbles a fraction and throws wildly towards the bowler's end. Virat and Rajat Patidar were shaking hands at the striker's end momentarily, but a poor throw and Shreyas Iyer failing to hit the stumps towards the bowling end combined to secure a dramatic double for RCB. 

Arshdeep Singh to Rajat Patidar, Good length on off, Rajat Patidar doesn't look to muscle this as he just punches this to long off for an easy single. 

Arshdeep Singh to Rajat Patidar, Good length, on the pads, Rajat Patidar moves in and flicks this fine to the right of Shashank Singh at deep square for a couple. 

Arshdeep Singh to Rajat Patidar, On a length wide outside off, Rajat Patidar chases this and swings but gets beaten. 

Marco Jansen to Rajat Patidar, On a length, wide outside off. Rajat moves across and punches this towards long off for a comfortable single to end the over. 

Marco Jansen to Virat Kohli, YET ANOTHER IPL FIFTY FOR VIRAT KOHLI! He has dictated terms in this chase and has paced his innings to perfection. Too full, on off. Virat Kohli pushes this through mid off and takes one to bring up his half-century. This is Virat's 59th IPL fifty, including 8 hundreds in the IPL. This is his 67th fifty-plus score as well, the most by any batter in the history of this tournament. He has now overtaken David Warner, who has 66 scores of more than fifty.

Marco Jansen to Virat Kohli, Beaten this time around. Good length, angling away. Virat Kohli looks to drive this through cover but gets beaten. 

Marco Jansen to Virat Kohli, Length-delivery, going away from Virat. He looks to punch this towards sweeper on the off but gets it off the inside and to the bowler on the bounce. 

Marco Jansen to Rajat Patidar, Short-pitched, angling across the batter. Rajat Patidar gets on top of the bounce and dabs this to third man region for a single. 

Marco Jansen to Virat Kohli, On a length around the pads, Virat Kohli leans onto it and flicks this through backward square leg for a single. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, Much slower through the air, on middle and off. Rajat Patidar gets right on top of it and blocks this out. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, Too full, on the pads. Rajat Patidar looks to milk this towards leg, but the ball goes past his bat and hits him on the front pad. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Virat Kohli, Quicker one, on the pads of Kohli. Virat nudges this to short fine leg for a single. Kohli was keen on the second but the batters opted against it. 

Shreyas Iyer is back on the field and resumes taking the leadership duties from the stand-in skipper, Stoinis.

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, Tossed up on middle and leg, Rajat Patidar rolls this to long on for a comfortable single. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, Fuller, in the line of stumps. Rajat Patidar plays this well but straight at the fielder for a dot. 

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rajat Patidar, FOUR! DELICIOUS! Tossed up, pitching on leg and turning away from the RCB skipper. Rajat Patidar moves to his leg and ends up lofting this, inside out, over cover for a boundary. 

Harpreet Brar to Rajat Patidar, On the shorter side, angling into the batter on middle, Rajat Patidar nudges it with soft hands through square leg for a single.