Watch: RCB Bowlers Dominate Punjab Kings Early in Qualifier 1 Powerplay

Facing Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1, Royal Challengers brought amazing gameplay in the powerplay and dismissed half of the Punjab team. Winning the toss, captain Rajat Patidar invited Punjab Kings to bat first and opted to bowl first.

It has been a smooth ride for both PBKS and RCB in the league stage. The two franchises won 9 games each and lost 4 matches each to finish on 19 points. However, the Shreyas Iyer-led side had an edge with a better net run-rate, and they topped the league table. Opening for Punjab, Priyansh and Prabhsimran opened the batting attack while Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened the bowling attack.

Opening the attack, Royal Challengers struck early and hard in the powerplay, putting Punjab Kings on the back foot right from the start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened with a tight over and conceded just 8 runs. Following Bhuvneshwar over, Yash Dayal took on bowling and made an instant impact by dismissing Priyansh Arya with his first delivery. Bhuvi later followed it up by sending Prabhsimran Singh back. Then Josh Hazlewood turned the heat up, removing PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer in his very first over and then dismissing Josh Inglis.

A 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 start in their pursuit of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 ❤

🎥 Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Josh Hazlewood with back-to-back wickets to put #RCB on 🔝#PBKS are 48/4 after 6 overs.

Updates ▶ https://t.co/FhocIrg42l#TATAIPL | #PBKSvRCB | #Qualifier1 | #TheLastMile pic.twitter.com/7JM3B672Nc

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 29, 2025

RCB’s dominant power play against PBKS

In the first six overs of the match, PBKS struggled significantly against RCB’s disciplined bowling attack and lost four wickets for just 48 runs. Yash Dayal dismissed Priyansh Arya early, while Prabhsimran Singh showed brief aggression before falling to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Josh Hazlewood then took charge, removing Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis with short-pitched deliveries in quick succession.

Following a poor power play, Punjab Kings‘ batters struggled. At the time of the writing, PBKS have just managed a score of 78 runs for 8 wickets in just 10.3 overs. Suyash Sharma also impressed, picking up three wickets, including Stoinis, Shashank Singh, and Musheer Khan. Azmatullah Omarzai and Harpreet Brar remained unbeaten as the innings came to an abrupt end, leaving Punjab Kings in deep trouble at 78/8.

PBKS vs RCB playing XI 

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson

Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlet.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Mayank Agarawal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh.