IPL 2025: Kohli signals ‘one more to go’ to wife Anushka, as RCB fans celebrate lop-sided win in Qualifier 1

Virat Kohli signalled ‘one more to go’ to his wife, Anushka Sharma, after his team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), beat hosts Punjab Kings (PBKS) by eight wickets in IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 on Thursday (May 29), punching their ticket for the tournament final. RCB reached their fourth IPL final to date, after having lost the previous three (2009, 2011 and 2016), with Virat, his teammates, and all franchise fans in attendance in Mullanpur celebrating this statement win over table-toppers PBKS.

Virat looked elated with RCB’s eight-wicket win inside 11 overs. Though he contributed with a couple of fours in his brief stay (12) at the crease, Kohli remained an integral part of the team’s success this season, having amassed 626 runs in 15 contested matches. With his team now playing the summit clash, Kohli and RCB are just one win away from realising their dream of winning an IPL final.

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Besides, RCB maintained their away win record this season. After creating history by becoming the first team ever to win all away matches in a season, RCB stretched its streak with one more in Qualifier 1, stamping its authority this year.

Unlike how it panned out in the previous game, RCB bowlers did an incredible job in New Chandigarh by reducing batting-heavy PBKS to just 101 in the first innings. Sending them to bat first after winning the toss, RCB seamers picked four wickets inside the Powerplay, including removing their captain Shreyas Iyer and star batter Josh Inglis; two openers – Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh got out inside the first six overs too.

Marcus Stoinis tried saving Punjab’s sinking ship but failed, as spinner Suyash Sharma wreaked havoc with three wickets in the middle overs. Returning Josh Hazlewood picked as many as PBKS were all out inside 15 overs.

Salt rubs salt on Punjab’s wounds

Phil Salt was the star of the second innings, hitting an unbeaten and match-winning fifty (56 off 27 balls).

However, Punjab found early success in Kohli’s wicket, with Kyle Jamieson accounting for the Indian great; the debutant Musheer Khan removed RCB’s Impact Sub Mayank Agarwal on 19.

Those two were the only wickets that fell in the second innings, as RCB completed the run chase with utter ease.

They will now face the winner of the Qualifier 2 (Sunday) on Tuesday (May 3) in the IPL 2025 final.