The IPL 2025 playoffs are here, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this. Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will square off in Qualifier 1 on Thursday (May 29) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, with a direct ticket to the final on the line.
Both teams ended the league stage tied at 19 points from 14 games, but it was PBKS who grabbed the top spot thanks to their superior net run rate — capping off their best campaign since 2014, the last time they reached the final.
Meanwhile, RCB stormed into the top two with a monstrous chase of 228 against Lucknow, the third-highest in IPL history.
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RCB crushed PBKS by seven wickets the last time they met, but this is a different stage — and both sides know what’s at stake.
Who will win PBKS vs RCB IPL 2025 match? Prediction
The stakes couldn’t be higher — a win here means a straight shot to the final, while a loss drags you into a sudden-death Qualifier 2.
Punjab Kings may have finished atop the table, but they’ll know RCB are no easy beat. Bengaluru’s record-breaking 228 chase in their last game shows just how dangerous they can be when they click.
PBKS have been steady, consistent, and clinical. But they haven’t been in a playoff this intense in over a decade. RCB, meanwhile, have been here before — and their current form might just tilt the scale.
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Expect a tight contest, but the momentum favors Bengaluru. If their top order fires like it did against Lucknow, they could punch their ticket to the June 3 final early. Still, don’t count PBKS out — this is their most balanced squad in years, and they’ll be hungry to rewrite history.
PBKS vs RCB IPL 2025 match: Betting odds
According to Dafabet, PBKS, by a slight margin, are the favorites to win qualifier 1 at their home ground in Mullanpur.
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