Royal Challengers Bengaluru raced to their first Indian Premier League final since 2016 with an eight-wicket pounding of Punjab Kings in a lopsided Qualifier 1 here on Thursday.

Punjab Kings’ ultra-aggressive approach backfired on the day as RCB skittled out the home team for 101 in 14.1 overs.

RCB, who are yet to win the IPL despite reaching three finals (2009, 2011, 2016) since the league’s inception in 2008, gunned down the small target in 10 overs courtesy a belligerent fifty from opener Phil Salt (56 not out off 27). With a near perfect performance, RCB marched to the title clash scheduled in Ahmedabad on June 3.

Punjab Kings, who reached the play-offs for the first time since 2014, will get another shot at reaching the final in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on June 1. The home team batters found it difficult to hit through the line but it seemed Salt was batting on a different surface, collecting boundaries for fun.

He ended up smashing six fours and three sixes including a crisp pull off pacer Arshdeep Singh.

The match ended prematurely when RCB skipper Rajat Patidar slog swept Musheer Khan for a maximum. Punjab Kings were blown away by RCB but Kyle Jamieson got the home crowd going for a brief period by bowling a stellar wicket maiden that included the wicket of Virat Kohli (12 off 12).

Number three Mayank Agarwal was left clueless in the same over with Jamieson getting the ball to swing away.

“We need to go back to the drawing board. We have lost the battle but not the war,” said Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer after a rather heavy loss.

Earlier, the all-out attack strategy of the Punjab Kings contributed to their downfall after they were put in to bat. Their innings lasted just 14.1 overs. The RCB pace trio of Josh Hazlewood (3/21), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/17) and Yash Dayal (2/26) exploited the conditions well before leg-spinner Suyash Sharma (3/17) made it worse for the opposition.

Punjab Kings’ steep slide began when in-form opener Priyansh Arya was caught at cover off Dayal as he couldn't check his drive. His opening partner Prabhsimran Singh (18 off 10) followed him back into the dugout in the following over from Bhuvneshwar.

Having collected two straight boundaries on the charge, Prabhimsran stepped out for a third swipe but Bhuvneshwar pulled his length back to induced the edge. Captain Shreyas Iyer, who has been central to the team’s success this season, went for a wild slog off Hazlewood on his third ball of the innings but was caught behind. The Australian pacer then sent back his country man Josh Inglis off a rising ball that the former could not control, creating a sense of panic in the dressing room . The batters continued to go for their shots to hasten Punjab Kings’s slide. Against leggie Suyash, the likes of Marcus Stoinis (26 off 17) and Shashank Singh went for the slog sweep but could not connect to the googly. Musheer Khan, making an unexpected IPL debut as an impact player with wickets falling in heap, too fell to a sweep off Suyash, who got his googly to turn sharply.

Having put up a poor effort with the bat, Punjab Kings would take some confidence from their league stage outing against KKR when they defended 111 on a challenging surface here.

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