Strong performances from Virat Kohli and Jacob Bethell drove Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a solid position, while Romario Shepherd’s late efforts propelled them even further on the flat Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, resulting in a total of 213 for 5.
Once again, Shepherd was chosen over Liam Livingstone. In a display of brute strength, he managed to score a fifty in just 14 balls – second only to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record (13 balls) in the IPL. Out of the 14 deliveries faced by Shepherd, 10 resulted in boundaries or sixes.
In a fitting manner, Shepherd reached the milestone by sending the ball into the top tier over wide long-off with a powerful six on the last delivery of the innings delivered by Matheesha Pathirana.
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Shepherd stepped up to the plate as RCB reached a score of 157 for 5 in the 18th over. With just one more left, he launched an impressive assault on Khaleel Ahmed, sending him packing with four sixes and two fours. Pathirana, who had been strong in the middle overs, was unable to contain Shepherd’s power in the final over and ended up conceding two fours and two sixes.
CSK’s foreign bowlers initially halted RCB’s momentum in the middle overs, making a 200-plus score seem unlikely. However, they rallied under the leadership of Pathirana. Despite criticism over his altered action in IPL 2025 – with a higher release point compared to the previous season – he proved his skill on a smaller field. His precision in delivering yorkers, slower balls, and even bouncers was commendable.
It was Pathirana who initially broke through for CSK, taking advantage of his first over to induce a mis-hit from Bethell. The screamer came from Dewald Brevis, who dashed in from deep square leg to dismiss Bethell for 55 off 33 balls. Although Pathirana could have ended Bethell’s knock at 27, a collision with Ravindra Jadeja led to the chance being dropped.
While Bethell scored his first IPL half-century in only his second innings, taking 28 balls to do so, Kohli also reached his fifty off 29 balls. Although he seemed poised for a substantial score, Kohli was dismissed for 62 runs off 33 deliveries by a slower bouncer from Sam Curran.
RCB’s 71 for 0 in the opening six overs was their top powerplay score at home this season. After that, Pathirana teamed up with Noor Ahmad and Curran to revive CSK, but Shepherd’s successful sixes changed the course of the game during the final overs and gave RCB a favorable position.
For the past seven years, CSK has been unable to successfully chase down a target of 180 or more.
