RCB through to Qualifier 1
Pant brings on Badoni for the 19th. A white flag? After three runs off the first three balls, Jitesh slog-sweeps him for a six to take RCB into Qualifier 1. This is also their highest successful chase in the IPL, keeping their flawless away record intact.
Jitesh, the stand-in captain, plays a standout knock - one of the best in the IPL. He finishes on 85 not out off just 33 balls to take RCB home with eight balls to spare.
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Jitesh goes berserk; RCB all but through
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Jitesh takes O'Rourke apart. He ramps him over short third, smashes over covers, swats over long-on and launches over deep midwicket.
Only seven needed from 12 now.
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Drama! Drama! Drama!
Jitesh had made RCB overwhelming favourites by hitting Avesh for two fours in the 16th over. Rathi comes on for the 17th. Jitesh goes reverse and gets caught at backward point. Rathi starts writing on the ground in celebration but it's a low catch and the on-field umpires want the TV umpire to have a look. But even before the third umpire gets there, he finds that Rathi has bowled a back-foot no-ball.
Jitesh gives his all to the free hit and sends it over deep midwicket. That takes him to his fifty too, surprisingly his first in the IPL.
As Rathi runs in to bowl the final ball, he breaks the stumps at the non-striker's end. Jitesh is out of his crease at that point. The umpire checks with Rathi if he is appealing and Rathi replies in the affirmative. The TV umpire rules it not out, saying Rathi had completed his "delivery stride" before affecting the run out. Not out flashes on the big screen. In the meantime, Pant had withdrawn the appeal.
RCB need 28 from three
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Jitesh counterattack revives RCB
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The 13th over, by Akash, produced only seven runs but Jitesh hit O'Rourke for a six and a four off successive balls to keep RCB's hopes alive.
On the first ball of the next over, O'Rourke let one slip through his hands at deep point. What should have been a single turned into a four.
Two balls later, Jitesh skipped out of his crease and hit Shahbaz over extra cover, followed by a swept four. He has moved to 39 off 15. Agarwal, who ended the over with a four, is on 36 off 18.
RCB 177/4 after 15; 51 needed from five
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Kohli falls for 54. Is that the game?
It was not a great ball. Avesh bowled full and just outside off. But Kohli, instead of hitting through the line, chose to slice it and ended up holing out to long-off. He walks back for 54 off 30.
Jitesh comes in and opens his account with a boundary.
RCB 132/4 after 12. Ninety-six needed from 48 balls
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Kohli fifty keeps RCB in hunt
Kohli chips Shahbaz over his head for a four before hitting Akash through covers on the up. That second four takes him to his fifty off 27 balls, and RCB to their hundred.
Agarwal then hits a hat-trick of fours, first cutting, then pulling and then cutting again.
RCB 115/3 after ten. They need 113 more from the remaining ten.
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O'Rourke gets two in two
Having gone for 22 in his first over, O'Rourke returns to bowl the eighth over of the innings. Patidar picks him up over deep square leg for a six. Two balls later, Kohli hits him over extra cover for four. But O'Rourke has the last laugh as Patidar slashes his fifth ball straight to Abdul Samad. Off the next, he has Livingstone lbw with a full delivery. It was so plumb that RCB didn't even review it.
Kohli is still there, on 42 off 21. Mayank Agarwal has just joined him.
RCB 90/3 after eight
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Akash gets Salt
Only three runs came from the first three balls of the sixth over. For the fourth, Akash Singh went short and wide to Salt. The batter had to really reach out for it. Salt went airborne and tried a tennis forehand but the ball hit the bottom end of the bat and lobbed towards extra cover, where Rathi settled under it. No notebook celebration, in case you are curious.
Kohli finished the over with a boundary, thanks to Badoni's misfield at point.
RCB 66 for 1 after six
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RCB 50/0 after four
LSG immediately bring spin on from both ends. Digvesh Rathi bowls the third over and Shahbaz Ahmed the fourth. It limits the damage somewhat as only 19 come from those two. Both Kohli and Salt are batting with a strike rate of 200-plus. Salt has also completed 7000 T20 runs.
RCB 50 for 0 after four
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RCB off to a flying start
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Phil Salt starts the first over, bowled by Akash Singh, with a four. Virat Kohli ends it with a four.
Phil Salt starts the second over, bowled by Will O'Rourke, with a four. Virat Kohli ends it with four fours.
RCB 31/0 after two
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Pant 118* takes LSG to 227 for 3
Innings Lucknow Super Giants 227 for 3 (Pant 118*, Marsh 67, Thushara 1-26) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
It was too late for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but Rishabh Pant was at his destructive best against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the last league game of IPL 2025. Batting at No. 3 on a mixed-soil pitch in Lucknow, Pant smashed 118 not out off 61 balls – a knock studded with 11 fours and eight sixes. RCB need 228 if they are to finish in the top two.
After RCB opted to bowl, Nuwan Thushara shattered Matthew Breetzke’s off stump in the third over with the age-old bouncer-yorker trick. But Pant was off to a flying start. In the fourth over, he hit Yash Dayal for a six and two fours to move to 19 off just eight. This was already his third-highest score of the season.
RCB’s decision not to bowl Bhuvneshwar Kumar until the fifth over of the innings was also baffling, especially after Thushara had found swing in the opening over. In the seventh over, with no swing on offer, Bhuvneshwar went short. Pant duly pulled him over deep midwicket for a six. On the next delivery, Livingstone failed to flick the ball back at deep square leg and ended up conceding a boundary. Soon, Pant brought up his fifty, off 29 balls.
Mitchell Marsh, who was on 33 off 23 after ten overs, also joined in. Off his next eight balls, he smashed 20 to bring up his sixth 50-plus score of the season.
Bhuvneshwar eventually broke the 152-run stand off 78 balls by having Marsh caught behind in the 16th over. But given that Marsh had started that over with two consecutive sixes and Pant ended it with a four, 20 came from it.
Pant was unstoppable, though. He brought up his hundred with a Pant shot and followed it up with a Pant celebration. It was a full and wide delivery from Bhuvneshwar. Pant reached out to it and scythed it over extra cover for four. By the time he completed the shot, his front leg was in the air, beyond parallel to the ground, the toe pointing towards deep midwicket. He looked up, removed his helmet and gloves and did a frontflip to celebrate the landmark. The LSG dugout stood up to applaud, as did the home crowd.
Jitesh Sharma, who once again stood in for Rajat Patidar, erred in the over distribution. Krunal Pandya, who had bowled the second over of the innings, sent down just one more and finished with 2-0-14-0, while Romario Shepherd registered 4-0-51-1.
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Pant brings up hundred
Pant has brought up his hundred with a Pant shot and has followed it up with a Pant celebration. It was a full and wide delivery from Bhuvneshwar. Pant reached out to it and scythed it over extra cover for four. By the time he completed the shot, his front leg was in the air, beyond parallel to the ground, the toe pointing towards deep midwicket.
He looked up, removed his helmet and gloves and did a frontflip to celebrate the landmark. The LSG dugout stood up to applaud, as did the home crowd.
The shot also took LSG past 200.
LSG 201 after 18
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Bhuvneshwar breaks through
Bhuvneshwar returns for the 16th over as RCB search for a wicket. He does provide it but not before Marsh has launched his first two balls for straight sixes. After a wide, he goes full outside off. Marsh swings at it and gets an edge to Jitesh. That brings an end to a 152-run stand off 78 balls.
LSG 177/2 after 15.3
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Pant at his best
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Marsh brings up fifty
Mitchell Marsh was on 33 off 23 balls. Off his next eight balls, he has smashed 20 to bring up his sixth 50-plus score of the season. He got to the mark by clearing his front leg and muscling Suyash over deep midwicket.
Later in the over, when Suyash bowled slightly short and wide, Pant threw his hands at it to smash it over extra cover for four. For the next ball, Pant brought out his one-handed six over wide long-on.
LSG 149/1 after 14
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Fifty for Pant, Hundred for LSG
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Suyash starts his next over with a googly. But it's in Pant's half. He goes down on one knee and launches it over the sightscreen. When Suyash erred on the shorter side, Pant duly pulled him through square leg for four. In between, a misfield from Salt gifted him another four. In all, Pant took 16 from the over and brought up his fifty off 29 balls.
LSG 100/1 after ten
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Suyash goes fast and faster
We are into the seventh over and the ball isn't swinging anymore. Bhuvneshwar tries a bouncer to Pant, who pulls it over deep midwicket for a six. For the next ball, Bhuvneshwar goes full. Pant flicks towards deep square leg where Livingstone puts in a slide but fails to flick it back.
In the next over, Suyash Sharma varies his pace; he bowls fast and faster. The speedgun reads, in kph, 89, 91, 100, 101, 101, 99. LGS manage only six singles, including a leg-bye, off those.
LSG 74/1 after eight
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LSG cross 50 inside powerplay
Bhuvneshwar finally comes on to bowl the fifth over and concedes only four. That also meant a change of ends for Thushara for the final over of the powerplay. He goes for the yorkers but fails to nail them. Sometimes it ends up as a low full toss, sometimes a half-volley. He tries a slower one that ends up as a beamer to Marsh and is given a no-ball. The free hit is a bouncer outside off. Marsh swings at it and gets cue end of the bat over the cordon. On the last ball of the over, Marsh gets a single to complete 5000 T20 runs.
LSG 55/1 after six
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Pant in at No. 3
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In LSG's previous game, against Gujarat Titans, Rishabh Pant had given a glimpse of what-if with an unbeaten 16 off six balls. Today, he is in at No. 3 and off to a similar start. He first slog-sweeps Yash Dayal for a six and then flat-bats him down the ground for four. He is moved to 19 off just eight balls. This is already his third-highest score this season.
LSG 44/1 after four
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Thushara goes nose and toes
After starting the third over with two dots to Breetzke, Thushara slips in a bouncer. Breetzke is late on the shot. The ball hits him on the helmet and flies over the keeper's head for four. After a concussion test, when he gets ready to face again, Thushara goes for the yorker. It ends up as a low full toss but the away movement he has been getting means Breetzke is beaten on the outside edge and his off stump us uprooted.
LSG 26/1 after three
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The last time Bhuvneshwar didn't open the bowling
2015 The last time Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn't open the bowling in the IPL. It was SRH vs DD in Visakhapatnam, and Praveen Kumar and Dale Steyn bowled ahead of him.
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Thushara impresses but LSG off to a quick start
Nuwan Thushara, playing his first game of the season, has impressed in his first over. Bowling with his slingy, he got the ball to shape away from LSG's right-hand openers. One of those deliveries took Mitchell Marsh's outside edge and ran away to the deep third boundary. Marsh survived an lbw appeal - to be fair, he had got a big inside edge - as RCB burnt a review. Thushara, though, could not finish the over strongly. His last ball was full on the pads and Breetzke put it away for four.
The ball seemed to be swinging but Jitesh, instead of going for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, gave the second over to Krunal Pandya. On his third ball, Breetzke cleared his front leg and launched him over long-on.
LSG 21/0 after two
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RCB's away record this season: 6-0
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RCB opt to bowl; Patidar continues as Impact Player
Toss Royal Challengers Bengaluru chose to bowl vs Lucknow Super Giants
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Rajat Patidar will come in as Impact Player when RCB bat. (He was listed in the bowl-first XI but guess that might just be an oversight and would be corrected soon.)
With Tim David injured, RCB brought in Liam Livingstone. Josh Hazlewood, who has joined the squad, also sat out. Jitesh hinted both Hazlewood and David would be available for the playoffs. The other change for RCB was Nuwan Thushara replacing Lungi Ngidi, who has gone back to South Africa.
Just like Ngidi for RCB, Aiden Markram was unavailable for LSG. Matthew Breetzke replaced him, while Digvesh Rathi returned after serving a one-match ban. Akash Deep made room for him.
Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Matthew Breetzke, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Himmat Singh, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Digvesh Rathi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Will O'Rourke
Impact Player options: Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Arshin Kulkarni
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jitesh Sharma (capt & wk), 6 Romario Shepherd, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Yash Dayal, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Suyash Sharma
Impact Player options: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh
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Pitch report
It's a mixed-soil pitch with the Odisha black and the Mumbai red. There is a nice covering of grass but Matthew Hayden feels it's a bit tacky and bowling cutters into the wicket is the way to go. He doesn't expect a high-scoring game.
The square boundaries are more or less equal: 64 and 66 metres. The straight boundary is 74 metres.
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Release or retain ft. Tom Moody
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Injury watch
Tim David hurt himself in the field in the previous game. When he came out to bat, he was not able to run between the wickets. It's unlikely that he will play today. Liam Livingstone could replace him.
The other eye will be on Josh Hazlewood. He has joined the side after a shoulder rehab. Will RCB play him straightaway?
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LSG in RCB's way
Hello and welcome to the last league game of IPL 2025. It's Lucknow Super Giants hosting Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Last night, Punjab Kings booked their spot in Qualifier 1. RCB could do that tonight by beating Lucknow Super Giants. If they win, they face Punjab Kings the day after. If they lose, they will be up against Mumbai Indians on May 30. Both those games will be played in Mullanpur/New Chandigarh. Do read Vishal Dikshit's preview while we wait for the toss.
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