NEW DELHI: Opener Phil Salt smashed a 23-ball fifty — his fastest in the Indian Premier League (IPL) — as Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed into the final of the 2025 season with a dominant eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings in a lopsided Qualifier 1 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.RCB’s bowlers set up the emphatic victory, with Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood picking up three wickets apiece to dismantle a star-studded PBKS batting line-up for just 101 runs in 14.1 overs. Salt then dazzled with a flurry of clean hits to finish unbeaten on 56 off 27 balls, steering RCB home with a staggering 10 overs to spare.
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With this win, RCB secured their fourth appearance in an IPL final, which will be played on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Punjab Kings, meanwhile, still have a chance to make the title clash when they play Qualifier 2 on Sunday at the same venue, against the winner of the Eliminator.
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Following RCB’s clinical win, former franchise pacer and legendary bowler Dale Steyn took to social media with an electrifying prediction."Can you believe it?!?!?! RCB have won the IPL," Steyn wrote on his social media handle.
Chasing a modest target of 102, Virat Kohli got off to a brisk start, pulling Arshdeep Singh for a boundary before glancing Kyle Jamieson for another.
At the other end, Phil Salt capitalised on the extra bounce, dispatching Arshdeep for a four and a six. However, Kohli’s innings was cut short in a wicket-maiden fourth over. Jamieson bowled a back-of-a-length delivery around the sixth stump that shaped away and took the outside edge, ending Kohli's stay.
With the ball moving around, Jamieson troubled Mayank Agarwal by beating him three times in an over. On the fourth delivery, Agarwal was given out, but a successful DRS review reversed the decision.
Salt steadied RCB’s chase, cutting and steering Azmatullah Omarzai for a pair of boundaries.
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Agarwal then played a fluent on-drive, while Salt followed it up with an elegant cover drive. He further punished Jamieson by pulling and lofting him for two fours and a six in the final over of the powerplay, which yielded 21 runs. RCB raced to 61/1 at the end of the powerplay.Salt continued his assault by clearing his front leg to hammer Harpreet Brar for a six, while Agarwal lofted and drove Musheer Khan for a six and a four.
But Musheer struck back, breaking the 54-run partnership by getting Agarwal to feather an edge on the flick, which was well taken at slip.Salt remained undeterred and reached his fifty in just 23 balls, celebrating the milestone with a slash through point for four. From there, RCB’s win was all but sealed. Captain Rajat Patidar joined the party, first driving Musheer for a boundary and then finishing the match in style with a powerful slog-sweep to seal a dominant victory — and a few well-earned days off — ahead of the final on June 3.
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