Finally! RCB and Kohli win maiden IPL title after 18 years

Virat Kohli finally won the Indian Premier League as Royal Challengers Bengaluru sealed their maiden title with a six-run win over Punjab Kings.

The 36-year-old India legend, the only player to represent the same franchise in every edition of the tournament, top-scored for RCB, hitting 43 in his side’s 190-9 from 20 overs.

Kings, who were also seeking a first IPL title, were unable to chase down their target, finishing on 184-7.

Opening the batting alongside England’s Phil Salt, Kohli’s crucial knock from 35 deliveries, took RCB to 143 before he was the fourth wicket to fall, caught and bowled by Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai.

Salt struck 16 from nine balls before being caught by Shreyas Iyer off Kyle Jamieson, while England all-rounder Liam Livingstone hit 25 as the side’s numbers three to six all posted scores in the mid-20s.

Having accumulated steadily, Andy Flower’s team failed to accelerate in the final over, with Arshdeep Singh taking three wickets in his last six balls to ensure RCB didn’t pass 200.

Kings found themselves 98-4 in the 13th over of their reply, losing captain and star batter Shreyas for just one, caught by Jitesh Sharma off Romario Shepherd.

Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh began to rebuild, but their side’s challenge effectively ended when Wadhera and the big-hitting Marcus Stoinis were both caught in the same Bhuvneshwar Kumar over.

Needing 29 from Josh Hazlewood’s final over, Shashank hammered 22 from the last four balls of the innings, bringing his side tantalisingly close to their target with an unbeaten 61.

However, his efforts were ultimately in vain, and after 18 years and three previous final defeats, Kohli and RCB could finally celebrate a successful IPL campaign.

Kohli and Flower lift RCB to new heights

It has been a long wait for Kohli, who played in the first IPL game for RCB in April 2008.

Then aged 19, he was bowled for one, but he would go on to hit 8,661 runs in 267 matches in the competition at an average of 39.54, with eight hundreds and 63 half-centuries.

He tasted defeat in his side’s two final appearances, losing to Chennai Super Kings in 2011 and 2016 to Sunrisers Hyderabad, while he also captained the franchise between 2013 and 2021.

Kohli has been in strong form in recent years, averaging over 50 in the past three seasons, including 54.75 in this campaign, and now gets to lift the IPL trophy after 267 matches in the competition.

The title also represents another success in the franchise coaching career of Flower, who took over RCB in 2024.

The Ashes-winning former England coach led RCB to fourth in his first season, losing in the eliminator match, before placing second this year, behind Kings on net run-rate.

His side then beat Kings in the first qualifier match to progress straight to the final, and have now repeated that feat.

It follows wins in the Pakistan Super League with Multan Sultans in 2021 and Trent Rockets in The Hundred in 2022.

Meanwhile England internationals Salt, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell will also be awarded winners medals.

Livingstone hit 25 from 15 in the final, while Bethell was playing for England in the third ODI against the West Indies during the game, having returned home for international duty. (BBC)