The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2025 on Thursday, May 29, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium. Consequently, after nine years, RCB made it to the IPL final.
PBKS batted first after losing the toss and were dismissed for 101 in 14.1 overs, a dismal batting effort. The majority of Punjab’s batters lost their lives while attempting to play aggressively and out of consideration for the team’s circumstances.
Marcus Stoinis led the IPL 2025 table-toppers with 26 runs (17), while Prabhsimran Singh and Azmatullah Omarzai each scored 18 runs. RCB’s bowling stars were Suyash Sharma (3/17) and Josh Hazlewood (3/21). After that, Philip Salt (56*) struck a scorching half-century to lead RCB to victory in the pathetic chase in just 10 overs, guaranteeing them a place in the championship game.

On Thursday night, spectators were entertained by PBKS’s low-scoring and lopsided IPL 2025 encounter against RCB. They posted amusing memes on social media to express their feelings. The following are a few of the top game-related memes:
RCB form after buying Josh Hazlewood pic.twitter.com/2mVBX8fXsj
— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 29, 2025
Rajat Patidar be like pic.twitter.com/OATyQxUNBY
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 29, 2025
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) May 29, 2025
When you realise IPL final is outside Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/AriRvj69kl
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 29, 2025
#IPLPlayoffs #Qualifier1 #RCBvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/CaSzsOW7pN
— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) May 29, 2025
— maithun (@Being_Humor) May 29, 2025
It's good he retired, otherwise we would have suffered this for whole of 2 months in England 💀 pic.twitter.com/yDtlCwbq6f
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) May 29, 2025
bhai tum dono shaadi karlo ab, bahut hogaya softlaunching. pic.twitter.com/GzHGgzywTk
— Xavier Uncle (@xavierunclelite) May 29, 2025
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) May 29, 2025
This guy believed too much on Shashank Singh 💔 pic.twitter.com/0t8x3pDqQm
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) May 29, 2025
“We need to work on our batting” – Shreyas Iyer after IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 defeat

PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer conceded that they needed to step up their batting on difficult surfaces when it mattered most after a poor outing against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the post match presentation. Iyer reflected on the dismal loss:
“I felt we got to go back to the drawing board and see where we went wrong. We didn’t read the wicket to be honest, we need to get back and see what we can do. I don’t doubt on my decisions, outside of the ground, it was on point. We couldn’t execute in the game. Such a low total, can’t blame the bowlers.”
Shreyas Iyer
“On such wickets, we need to work on our batting. In all the games we’ve played here, there was variable bounce. We can’t give such reasons, bat according to the situations and have to live up to it. We’ve lost the battle, not the war.”
Shreyas Iyer

PBKS have the second opportunity to make it to the final as they will play the winner of the Eliminator encounter between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2 on Sunday, June 1.