Royal Challengers Bengaluru 161 for 5 (Kohli 75*, Jitesh 11*, Rashid 2-25) beat Gujarat Titans 155 for 8 (Washington 50*, Salam 3-27, Bhuvneshwar 2-29) by five wickets
It took them 18 years to win their first title, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) took no time in becoming only the third team to successfully defend it. Their seam bowlers made superb use of a slightly sticky surface after Rajat Patidar won the toss, restricting Gujarat Titans (GT), who were in their third final in five years of their existence, to 155—the exact same score RCB managed in the league match against the same opposition at the same venue, on the same pitch No. 6, bang in the middle of the square.
Josh Hazlewood, who has never lost a T20 or ODI final, set the tone with the wicket of Shubman Gill in his first over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar momentarily reclaimed the Purple Cap with two wickets, and Rasikh Salam capped off his best IPL with three wickets to take his tally for the season to 19. Last year’s Player of the Match, Krunal Pandya—who has now won his fifth IPL final out of five—also chipped in with the key wicket of Jos Buttler, finishing with figures of 4-0-23-1. He is now behind only Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu in terms of IPL titles, and is also the first player to successfully defend a title with two different teams.
Only three of 26 scores under 190 in a full match had been successfully defended this IPL. With the ball still nibbling around, the best attack in the tournament would have felt they had a chance, but amid falling wickets, Virat Kohli chose this final to hit his fastest IPL fifty and his highest playoff score, leading RCB to a five-wicket win with two overs to spare.
Get the openers
Gill and B Sai Sudharsan came into the final as the only pair of batters from the same team to have scored 700 or more runs in the same IPL season. However, they were up against bowlers who have troubled them in the past. A cautious start followed. Gill survived an early Bhuvneshwar over, but Hazlewood had him top-edge his trademark short-arm pull.
GT promoted Nishant Sindhu to No. 3 to protect Buttler from Bhuvneshwar, but the experienced seamer ensured Buttler had to come out early, removing Sudharsan in his second over. He first beat Sudharsan on the charge with a bouncer before following up with another, this one taking the toe end on the ramp. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, in attendance in Ahmedabad, was now assured of the Orange Cap. This was only the fourth time this IPL that both GT openers had been dismissed inside the powerplay, three of them against RCB.
Middle-overs choke
Seeing some grip from the pitch and more subdued batters at the crease, Krunal shelved his variations and bowled a consistent length. His first three overs yielded no boundaries. Salam was equally miserly at the other end, bowling a good length and exploiting the slight variation from the surface. One of those deliveries had Sindhu caught at long-on.
When Krunal began his final over, GT had gone 37 legal deliveries without a boundary. Krunal anticipated Buttler’s frustration, saw him advancing, and fired in a wide yorker for a spectacular stumping by Jitesh Sharma.
Another promotion followed, with Arshad Khan walking in and hitting the fourth ball of the 13th over for a six—only one ball quicker than the longest it has taken a team to hit a six in an IPL final.
No let-up from RCB
Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar and Salam offered no freebies in the death overs. Every time GT tried to build momentum, one of the quicks struck. Hazlewood removed Arshad, Bhuvneshwar took Jason Holder to bring up his 28th wicket of the season, and Salam dismissed Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan late on. Only Jacob Duffy went wicketless, though he also nearly had Washington Sundar, who went on to score a fighting 37-ball 50.
The high-octane chase
Like he did in the 2024 final with a 50 at a strike rate of two runs per ball, Venkatesh Iyer gave the chase a flying start. An injury to the inside of his knee in the first over left him with little option but to attack. He hit out against Rabada in his first over, and by the time Mohammed Siraj dismissed him for 32 off 16, RCB were well on their way.
While Venkatesh played his part, Kohli went after Rabada with ferocity that had been signposted by a season in which he matched many of the younger, more innovative T20 batters. Of the six batters to score 600 or more this IPL, only Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan did so quicker than his 675 runs at a strike rate of 165.84.
As expected, Kohli was fired up against his long-time rival Rabada, striking a six and three fours in Rabada’s second over. The bowlers lost their lengths against him, and Kohli’s first run on the off side brought up his 39th boundary. By then, Rabada had reclaimed the Purple Cap with Devdutt Padikkal’s wicket, and Rashid Khan soon struck twice in his first over, but the required rate was already under a run a ball.
An injury to Kohli briefly slowed RCB’s charge, but he finished the job in style with a four and a six off the final two balls of the 18th over. (ESPNcricinfo)
