The 65th match of the IPL 2025 saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) clashing with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. RCB stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Ishan Kishan slammed 94* in 48 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes, while Abhishek Sharma made 34, Heinrich Klaasen made 26, and Aniket Verma contributed 24 runs. SRH made 231/6 in 20 overs.
In response, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli added 80 runs for the opening wicket in 7 overs only. But then Kohli got out to Harsh Dubey for 43 runs, and Salt followed for 62 with 4 fours and 5 sixes to his name.
After their wickets, RCB struggled to find the momentum to chase down that huge score. Jitesh Sharma scored 24 and Rajat Patidar made 18 as RCB was finally bowled out for 189 runs.
SRH won the game by 42 runs, with Pat Cummins taking three wickets for the team.
After the match, RCB stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma stated that the team lacked the intensity needed after a long break and mentioned that it was good for the team to lose this match.
“I think 20-30 runs were extra, I don't have any answers (how RCB lost from that situation.) We were rusty, and I think intensity wasn't there, but it's good to lose this game. I was upset because I got out, I wasn't in that zone to meet Tim David, who was injured. Sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check and analyse. The positive things are that everyone's chipping in. After this loss, we've got a setback to check [things] again. We will bounce back in a good way in the upcoming games,” Sharma told official broadcasters.
RCB now has 17 points from 13 games from 8 wins and will play their final league match against LSG in Lucknow on May 27.
