IPL 2025: Punjab Kings condemn RCB to third successive loss at home

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost their third successive game in Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday. Punjab Kings braved Josh Hazlewood’s quick strikes to remove Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis in a space of three balls. With this win, PBKS now have 10 points from seven games. Both sides are set to play each other in their return fixture at Mullanpur in the next round. 

#NehalWadhera turns up the heat!

He’s not playing it safe , he’s playing it quick.#IPLonJioStar 👉 #RCBvPBKS | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, JioHotStar pic.twitter.com/Q8phRFs6Kt

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 18, 2025

Earlier in the day, RCB posted 95 runs on the board for the loss of nine wickets from 14 overs. The game was shortened after rain had delayed the start of the game for a while. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and bowled first and at one stage had reduced to RCB to 42 for seven before Tim David came to the party. 

The Australian batter scored 50 not out from 26 balls with five boundaries and three sixes. Those huge hits came in the final over of the innings as David took Harpreet Brar to the cleaners. It was the first fifty in IPL for the Aussie batter but that couldn’t help Punjab from claiming an easy five wicket win. 

Nehal Wadhera’s cameo help Punjab Kings beat RCB

Needing 96 runs to win from 14 overs, PBKS started with Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya opening the batting. Singh began the onslaught with two boundaries before he was out for 13 runs from nine balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended the knock when he had the PBKS batter caught by Tim David. 

Priyansh Arya who had struck a six and a four in his knock off 16 was caught by David to give Hazlewood his first wicket. Shreyas Iyer failed to get going with the bat as he was out for seven runs from 10 balls as Jitesh Sharma held a sharp catch to give Hazlewood his second scalp. The veteran seamer then struck when he had Inglis caught by Suyash Sharma for 16. 

Just when the RCB team were making a comeback into the contest, Nehal Wadhera dashed those hopes. The left-handed batter hit Suyash Sharma for a huge six and followed it up with yet another maximum and a boundary off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bring PBKS closer to the target. Marcus Stoinis hit the winning shot for six to help Punjab claim the five wicket win with 11 balls to spare and go to the second spot in the table.