IPL 2025: Spin twins and Virat Kohli-Devdutt Padikkal script routine RCB win over Punjab Kings | Ipl News

Kohli’s chase-mastery and Padikkal’s carnage puncture Punjab’s shaky resance after spin duo Suyash and Krunal sting them.Royal Challengers Bengaluru underlined their play-off credentials with another stress- and incident-free pursuit of 158, expertly conducted Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. They thus maintained their all-win away record this season. Punjab Kings, conversely, are wading through a phase of stasis, even though both teams are locked on 10 points.
Kohli’s chase-mastery, Padikkal’s carnage
Two strokes of Kohli drew gasps from the otherwise muted crowd during Challengers’ stroll of a chase. The first instance was when he essayed the crispiest straight drive off Xavier Bartlett for his second boundary of the innings. His first instinct seemed to be to flick the fullish ball, but on quick second thoughts, he pushed the bat in a straight and economical line, through mid-off. The crowd, buoyant after Arshdeep Singh’s first-over dismissal of Phil Salt, paused and clapped to acknowledge a sublime stroke from one of India’s batting greats, whose aura transcends loyalties.
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The other came off the last ball in the Powerplay when the gangling Marco Jansen burst a short ball in line with his chest. But Kohli just dabbed the ball towards the ground, piercing the gap between short third man and backward point. The stroke pleased Kohli, who flashed a content smile. Throughout the game, Kohli outpoured his emotions, wildly celebrating the fall of every wicket when Challengers were fielding, sniggering whenever he squandered a boundary ball, punching the air when Padikkal completed his half-century, chastising Rajat Patidar after a comical mix-up that went unpunished, and roaring in delight when the target was victoriously overhauled. now, anchoring such causes would be mere muscle memory.

Smacking them with ease
Virat Kohli is in the mood to finish this early
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Kohli palpably derived joy watching Padikkal unleash a torrent of boundaries to don the aggressor’s role. The left-hander’s stocks had plummeted in recent times, with suspicions cast on his batting tempo. On Sunday, he reeled out one of his most emphatic knocks in the league.
The left-hander brled with purposefulness. He tried to upper-cut his first ball, missed, but unfurled the same shot the next ball for a boundary off Arshdeep. He and Kohli ran a four, before he shattered Yuzvendra Chahal with a thumping six first ball, swinging him sweetly over his head. The leg-spinner, Kings’ beacon of hope, never recovered from the brunt of that stroke. His lengths were awry, lines shoddy. Padikkal also authored a gorgeous late-cut off Harpreet Brar when he bowled short seeing him shimmy down the track.
He took control of the game’s tempo and completed his half-century in only 30 balls, smoking boundaries at will. Kohli’s riffs were understandably sedate, as he primarily dealt in singles and twos. Boundaries were designed only when the ball pleaded for it to be slotted to the rope. And just like that, he made a potentially tricky chase look bafflingly simple.
Spin pair stings
Before breaking into short, fast strides, Suyash Sharma closes his eyes, offers a silent prayer and blows air into his cupped right wr. With a run-up reminiscent of Shahid Afridi, albeit shorter and stockier in frame with the neck craning towards the left-side as though holding a mobile phone, he hurries through his action.Story continues below this ad
The arm-speed is quick, a blur of limbs, as is often his pace, clocking an average speed of 98 kph, giving batsmen negligible time to react to the deviations off the surface. He purchases enough turn and over-spin to sting batsmen with a predetermined mindset. Marcus Stoinis, after sashaying down the track to smother the spin off the previous ball he faced off the leg-spinner, stood stationary in his crease, presuming the ball to be shorter in length. Instead, the ball was fuller, slower and spun back to blitz through his agape gate.

I.C.Y.M.I
On Target
Suyash Sharma’s twin strikes that put #RCB in front
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Suyash’s second scalp in the space of four balls derailed Punjab Kings’ repair bid, after Krunal Pandya’s twin strikes and a blinding catch had reduced them to 76 for 4. The 36-run stand between Stoinis and Josh Inglis had revived the innings. But Suyash — the most expensive uncapped spinner in the auction — chose this moment to show he was worth his hefty price sticker.
Inglis, unable to read him off the surface, premeditated and attempted to go inside-out over cover. Suyash beat him with pace and a smidgeon of turn. It nudged 101.8 kph, near medium-pace territory. The Stoinis wrong’un, contrastingly, was 10kph slower, drifted away a bit, thanks to his slightly angled wrs during release, and snuck back a touch.
If Suyash’s USP was his mastery of pace modulation, his spin partner Krunal’s forte is his unflagging accuracy. He is always on the stumps, affords little room to swing the arms, and on sluggish surfaces when the sun is out, he makes the ball stick. He arrived with his team in dire need of wickets, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran having raced to 41 in four overs. Just the second ball, he ejected Priyansh with a routine ball that just slanted away with the angle.
The left-hander was a victim of underestimating Krunal’s prowess to cajole wickets out of nothing. He knew the opener would slog and had kept the field on the leg-side relatively open to tempt him. The first ball of his second over, he induced a hideous leg-side swipe from Prabhsimran to devour Kings’ Powerlay pace-setter. Krunal did not pick another wicket, but his swoop to get rid of Shreyas Iyer, galloping 15-20 yards from long-on, was as impactful a contribution as his two wickets. Together, the unfancied spin-pair leaked only 51 runs in their eight overs and snaffled four wickets, setting up the game for Kohli and Padikkal.
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Brief scores: Punjab Kings 157/6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran 33, Shashank 31 not out; Krunal 2/25, Suyash 2/26) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 159/3 in 18.5 overs (Kohli 73 not out, Padikkal 61) seven wickets