Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Lucknow Super Giants, to face Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 | Cricket News

Jitesh Sharma shake arms with Rishabh Pant

Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a scientific chase in their closing league stage match of IPL 2025, overhauling a large 228-run goal set by Lucknow Super Giants on the Ekana Stadium. The victory not solely confirmed RCB’s top-two end on the factors desk but in addition made them the first-ever crew to win all their away video games in a single IPL season.Asked to bowl first, RCB had been put beneath stress by a resurgent Rishabh Pant, who struck his second IPL century, getting to the milestone in simply 54 balls. It was Pant’s first hundred in the IPL since his 128* towards Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, and it marked the quickest century ever by an LSG batter. He shared a 152-run stand in 78 balls with Mitchell Marsh, who scored 67 off 37 balls, guiding LSG to a formidable 227/3.

In response, RCB began positively with a 61-run opening partnership. Virat Kohli chipped in with a fluent 54, laying the groundwork for the chase. The defining second got here in the seventeenth over, when Digvesh Rathi Mankaded Jitesh Sharma, who was out of his crease. However, LSG captain Rishabh Pant withdrew the enchantment, permitting Jitesh to proceed.Quiz: Who’s that IPL participant?The RCB skipper made the many of the second probability, ending with an unbeaten 85 off 33 balls, his maiden IPL fifty. He was effectively supported by Mayank Agarwal, who scored 41 not out off 27. The pair stitched an unbeaten 107-run partnership off simply 45 balls, powering RCB to 231/3, their highest profitable chase in IPL historical past.With the win, RCB end in the highest two of the league standings and can now face Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1, giving them two photographs at reaching the IPL closing. The victory additionally sealed RCB’s place in the document books as the one crew to win all their away fixtures in an IPL season.