Ahmedabad, June 3 (IANS) Kyle Jamieson and Arshdeep Singh grabbed three wickets apiece in a superb bowling effort by Punjab Kings as they restricted Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 190/9 in 20 overs in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.

Arshdeep picked 3-40 and Jamieson bagged 3-48 as Punjab Kings managed to claim a wicket every time the RCB batters were looking to explode into action. Virat Kohli managed a 35-ball 43 but cameos by Rajat Patidar (26 off 16) and Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) helped RCB fight back and left PBKS to chase 191.

Though the average score in the IPL final is 171 and RCB managed to reach 190, they could be considered 30 runs short considering the pitch and conditions.

With both teams hoping to claim their maiden title, RCB asked to bat first and batted cautiously after losing Phil Salt in the second over. The English wicketkeeper batter blazed 13 runs, with a six and a four, from the opening over by Arshdeep Singh, though he nearly got out off the first delivery as the ball sailed over the rope, missing the fielder’s outstretched fingers by inches.

Kyle Jamieson made the breakthrough for PBKS, sending back Salt (16 off 9) with a fullish delivery outside off as the batter tried to flay it out of the ground but could hit with managed to hit with the toe-end of the bat, Shreyas Iyer back-paddled a few metres to take the skier as RCB slumped to 18/1.

Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal treaded cautiously and took RCB to 55/1 at the end of the Power-play. Iyer brought his trump card soon after the break and Yuzvendra Chahal struck in his first over, sending back Agarwal for 24 off 18 (4×2, 6×1).

Skipper Rajat Patidar, struck Chahal for a six in the ninth over with a slog-sweep to a good length ball and also launched Jamieson for a big six over long-off, stepping off to a slow leg cutter on good length. But the bowler had the last laugh as he foxed the RCB skipper with another slow leg-cutter, this dipping in at good length before stumps. Patidar tried to flick it from the middle stump and missed it to be trapped lbw for 26 off 16 balls.

Virat Kohli continued to bat cautiously, flicking Jamieson to deep fine-leg boundary off his pads and ramping Afghan pacer Azmatullah Omarzai past the keeper. He and Liam Livingstone struck 14 runs off the 14th over bowled by Chahar, with Kohli slog-sweeping between long-on and deep midwicket after his partner had danced down to loft a leg break clear of long-off.

Punjab Kings bowled a solid line and did not allow the batter much leeway. The RCB batters also allowed them the luxury as they did not attack much. With the pressure mounting, Kohli got out for 43 (35 balls, 4×3), Omarzai getting the better of the talismanic batter with a series of short ones. Kohli tried to hit a 127k slow bumper but skied to midwicket and the bowler ran over to take a sliding catch. RCB slipped to 141/4 with five overs remaining.

Jitesh Sharma, who smashed a majestic 85 not out in their last league match against LSG, added fire to the innings hitting Arshdeep for fours off successive balls, the first one gloved behind. In the next over, he executed a perfect Dilscoop off Jamieson for a six and followed that up by dancing down and blasting it deep into the stands over long-off. A pulled six over midwicket off a slower ball later in an over in which the bowler sent down to wides. Jamieson rescued his figures a bit by trapping Livingstone with a full-toss as RCB blasted 23 runs off the over for the loss of one wicket.

Jitesh Sharma, who survived a catch behind decision via DRS off Vijaykumar Vyshak, was not the next ball, his brief cameo to an end in the 18th over as he edged a slower one onto his back leg from where it crashed into the stumps. His superb 10-ball 24 had lifted the tempo for RCB but like it had happened earlier in the match too, every time RCB looked like gaining an edge, they got pegged back.

Romario Shepherd (17 off 9), who survived a difficult catch off the first ball, blasted a four and a six off Omarzai in the 19th over but fell to a superb yorker from Arshdeep in the final. Arshdeep improved his figures by getting Krunal Pandya for 4 (5 balls) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) on the last ball, bagging three wickets for three runs, and RCB ended with a below-par score.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 190/9 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 43, Rajat Patidar 26, Jitesh Sharma 24; Arshdeep Singh 3-40, Kyle Jamieson 3-48) against Punjab Kings.

–IANS

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