IPL Orange and Purple Cap 2025: Josh Hazlewood jumps to 3rd as RCB thrash PBKS, roar to final

 IPL 2025 Orange and Purple Cap Update: Royal Challengers Bengaluru blew the Punjab Kings to pieces in Qualifier 1 of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) and thus booked a place for themselves in the final. RCB had a paltry target of 102 to chase and they got there on a canter with eight wickets and more than 10 overs to spare. Phil Salt scored a half-century while Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal were the two RCB batters who fell. PBKS now face the winner of the Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans which will be played on Friday.

PBKS were earlier all out for 101, the joint-lowest score of all time in an IPL playoff match. Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal blew their big-hitting top order away early in the match. Priyansh Arya was dismissed by Dayal in the second over for seven runs after which Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar in the third for 18 off 10 balls. Hazlewood then got the wickets of PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer (2) and Josh Inglis (4) in the fourth and sixth overs, leaving PBKS four wickets down in the powerplay. They lost their fifth in the very first over after powerplay with Dayal sending back Nehal Wadhera for eight runs in 10 balls. Suyash Sharma then took over the carnage, dismissing the big-hitting Shashank Singh for just three runs in the ninth over and then debutant Musheer Khan for a three-ball duck. Musheer had been sent in as PBKS’s Impact Sub.