Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten 73 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh by seven wickets. RCB have maintained their unbeaten record of winning matches away from home.
Virat Kohli unleashed his chasing masterclass as he helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Punjab Kings in the 37th match of the Indian Premier League 2025 on Sunday, April 20. Chasing 158, Kohli’s record breaking fifty led RCB hunt down the total without much of an issue as they won the clash with seven wickets in hand.
Kohli hit a well-measured half century as he guided his team well in the run-chase. This was his 67th fifty-plus score in IPL, which is now the most in the Indian cash-rich league. Kohli was earlier tied with David Warner with 66 fifty-plus scores, but this knock sends him clear at the top of the tree.
With this, RCB have maintained their unbeaten run away from home as they have now won all five of their matches on the road. The Bengaluru-based franchise has lost all of its three matches at home at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Punjab had hit a fine score of 157/6 on the pitch that was seemingly having something in it for the bowlers. The PBKS openers took the team off to a fine start, however, they lost their way with wickets falling at regular intervals. Krunal Pandya took apart both the PBKS openers before Romario Shepherd, playing in place of Liam Livingstone, got the big wicket of Shreyas Iyer.
Suyash Sharma also chipped in with a couple of crucial wickets as he first got the strong-going Josh Inglis, before cleaning up Marcus Stoinis in the same over. On the back of contributions from several players, PBKS mustered up 157/6 in their 20 overs.
RCB were up to the task despite losing Phil Salt early in the chase. Virat Kohli set his eyes in as Devdutt Padikkal, the impact sub, came into the scene. The two kept the scoreboard ticking with Padikkal being the enforcer and Kohli holding one end up. Padikkal slammed 61 from 35 balls, laced with five fours and four sixes as he and Kohli put up a 103-run stand. While the visitors lost Padikkal and then Rajat Patidar too, Kohli’s presence and no pressure of the scoring rate kept RCB going further as they clinched the game with seven wickets in hand and seven balls to go.
