RCB ke captain Rajat Patidar ne toss jeeta aur pehle bowling ka faisla kiya, kyunki pitch thodi hard thi aur grass bhi thi, jo seamers ke liye ekdum mast thi. Patidar ne toss pe kaha, “Pitch solid lag rahi hai, thodi grass hai, pehle kuch overs mein faida uthayenge.”
Team Changes aur Bade Misses
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB):
RCB ke liye badi khabar thi unke Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood ki wapsi, jo shoulder injury ke baad ek mahine se zyaada baad team mein aaye. Hazlewood, jo season mein 18 wickets ke sath RCB ke top bowler the, ne Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thushara ki jagah li, jo pichle match mein Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ke khilaaf acha khela tha. Par RCB ke liye bura news yeh tha ki Tim David is match mein nahi khel rahe the, kyunki unhe Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ke khilaaf pichle league match mein hamstring injury hui thi. Is wajah se RCB ko apni team thodi adjust karni padi, Liam Livingstone apni jagah pe bana raha, aur Rajat Patidar full fit ho ke captaincy kar raha tha. RCB ki playing XI thi: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma. Impact subs mein the Mayank Agarwal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, aur Swapnil Singh.
Punjab Kings (PBKS):
PBKS ne apni team mein ek change kiya, Afghanistan ke all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai ko South African all-rounder Marco Jansen ki jagah laya, kyunki Jansen World Test Championship (WTC) final ke liye Australia ke khilaaf practice ke liye nikal gaya tha, jo 11 June 2025 ko Lord’s mein hone wala hai. Sath hi, PBKS ke star leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal bhi teesre match ke liye nahi khel rahe the, kyunki unki wrist injury abhi bhi thik nahi hui thi. Chahal, jinhone 12 matches mein 14 wickets liye the (economy 9.56), ke playoff mein khelne ki ummeed thi, par unhe risk nahi kiya gaya. PBKS ke captain Shreyas Iyer ne toss pe bataya ki Omarzai team mein hai, aur woh pehle batting karna chahte the, par pitch ke history ke hisaab se batting first hi thik laga. PBKS ki playing XI thi: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson. Impact subs mein the Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, aur Xavier Bartlett.
Match ka Scene aur Strategy
Dono teams ka record ek jaisa tha, 14 league matches mein 9 jeet, par PBKS ka net run rate thoda better tha. Ye match bada important tha, kyunki jeetne wali team sidha final mein jati, aur haarne wali ko Qualifier 2 mein ek aur chance milta. RCB ne pehle bowling ka decision liya, kyunki unke paas Hazlewood ke sath ek solid pace attack thi, aur pitch pe seamers ke liye thodi movement thi. Pitch batting ke liye bhi acha tha, par fast outfield aur chhote boundaries ke wajah se bade scores ka chance tha. Weather ekdum clear tha, temperature high 30s mein thi, aur barish ka koi chance nahi tha, toh full match guaranteed tha.
RCB ke bowlers, Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, aur Yash Dayal ke lead mein, pehle overs mein pitch ka faida uthane ke mood mein the. Hazlewood, jo apne hard-length aur bounce ke liye famous hai, ne shuruaat mein hi PBKS ke captain Shreyas Iyer aur Josh Inglis ko out karke dhamaka kiya. PBKS ke liye, Chahal aur Jansen ke na hone se bowling thodi weak thi. Omarzai ke aane se thodi all-round strength mili, par Chahal jaisa spinner na hona bada jhatka tha, kyunki pitch pe pehle bhi spin ka thoda effect dekha gaya tha.
Match ka Flow
Match shuru hote hi RCB ne PBKS ko jhatke diye, unhe 12.2 overs mein 85/8 pe la diya. Hazlewood aur Yash Dayal ne shuruaat mein wickets chataayi, aur Suyash Sharma ne bhi spin se pressure banaya. PBKS ke openers Priyansh Arya aur Prabhsimran Singh RCB ke disciplined bowling ke saamne struggle kar rahe the. Omarzai aur Harpreet Brar crease pe the, koshish kar rahe the innings ko sambhalne ki, par RCB ke bowlers full control mein the.
PBKS ke liye, Chahal aur Jansen ke na hone se baad mein bowling mein Arshdeep Singh aur Kyle Jamieson pe bada pressure tha, aur Omarzai ko all-rounder ke role mein bhi kuch karna tha. RCB ki batting, jisme Virat Kohli aur Philip Salt jaise bade naam the, chase ke liye ready thi. RCB is season mein apne saare 7 away games jeet chuki thi, toh unka confidence high tha. Par PBKS ka Mullanpur mein record thoda up-down tha, 2 jeet aur 2 haar, aur Shreyas Iyer ne yaha sirf 25 runs banaye the, toh unki batting pe bhi pressure tha.
Bada Picture
Ye Qualifier 1 dono teams ke liye bada mauka tha, kyunki na RCB ne kabhi IPL jeeta tha, na hi PBKS. PBKS 11 saal baad playoffs mein aayi thi, aur RCB 2016 ke baad pehli baar top-2 mein thi. Hazlewood ka wapas aana RCB ke liye bada boost tha, par Tim David ka na hona, aur Lungi Ngidi (WTC final ke liye) aur Jacob Bethell (England duty ke liye) jaise players ke na hone se thodi dikkat thi. PBKS ke liye bhi, Chahal aur Jansen ke na hone se bowling mein kami thi, aur Omarzai pe bada responsibility tha. Match ke bade battles, jaise Hazlewood vs. Iyer aur Arshdeep vs. Salt, game ko decide karne wale the. RCB ka bowling ka edge aur away form unhe thoda favorite bana raha tha, par PBKS ke paas bhi apni batting se comeback ka chance tha, agar woh apna innings sambhal lete.
Basically, RCB ne Hazlewood ke sath pehle bowling karke PBKS ko shuruaat mein hi hila diya, par PBKS ke liye Omarzai aur baaki batsmen ke paas mauka tha fightback ka. Ye match dono teams ke liye ekdum dilchasp tha.
