KL Rahul batted through the 20 overs and smashed a classy 91. He was aided by Chris Gayle’s 46 and Harpreet Brar’s 25 as Punjab posted 179. Chasing nine runs per over, RCB’s power-packed batting line-up never took off and eventually slumped to a 34-run defeat.
It was a game where the momentum swayed constantly, especially in the first innings. Every five overs, there was a new twist, and before a team could drive home the advantage, the other team wrestled it back.
RCB started well with the ball, but Chris Gayle and KL Rahul helped Punjab Kings counter-attack. The RCB bowlers pulled it back nicely before a big flourish from Rahul, and Harpreet Brar propelled Punjab to a solid first innings score. With the bat, RCB couldn’t build any tempo or momentum, and when the time came to explode, Brar knocked over the big three in the RCB batting line-up to kill the run-chase then and there.
RCB won the toss and opted to field first. PBKS made three changes, out of which one was forced as Mayank Agarwal, who was hit on the hand in the previous game, was unfit, and Prabhsimran Singh came in for him. Harpreet Brar came in for Arshdeep Singh while Moises Henriques made way for Riley Meredith. RCB brought in Shahbaz Ahmed for Washington Sundar.
The RCB bowlers were very good up front. They bowled some tight lines and conceded just 29 runs in the first five overs. PBKS skipper KL Rahul had started fluently, but he was using up quite a few balls once again. In fact, in those first five overs, Mohammed Siraj conceded 18 while two overs from Daniel Sams and an over from Kyle Jamieson went for just 12 runs combined. Jamieson picked up the wicket of Prabhsimran as well.
However, the tide turned in the 6th over. Gayle went out on the attack and smashed Jamieson for five fours in the over to helped PBKS end the powerplay 49/1. Yuzvendra Chahal’s introduction didn’t make a difference as the Universe Boss tonked him for a couple of sixes down the ground to race away to 36 off 13 balls. Rahul picked up the pace at the other end and hit Chahal for a four and a six off successive deliveries.
Just when it looked like the Rahul-Gayle duo might explode and continue the attack, Sams bounced out Gayle and gave RCB a much-needed breakthrough. Jamieson came back to dismiss Nicholas Pooran for a duck. The latter’s wretched run in this IPL continued as he fell for his fourth duck of this season.
Chahal and Shahbaz tightened the screws in the next few overs. The former conceded just five runs in his last two overs while Shahbaz bowled two overs for 11 runs and one wicket. Sams finished his quota with a six-run 17th over. At that stage, Punjab were just 132/5 and had mustered just 23 runs from overs 13-17.
Rahul and Brar went berserk in the last three overs and plundered 40 runs off the last two overs from Harshal Patel. Siraj bowled an excellent 19th over and gave away just seven runs, but Patel’s two overs proved to be very expensive, and that lifted Punjab to 179/5.
Chasing a slightly above-par total, RCB could never really force the pace throughout their innings. Virat Kohli struck a couple of boundaries in the first couple of overs while Devdutt Padikkal hit Meredith for a six. However, the Australian fast bowler knocked over Padikkal the very next ball.
Batting at No. 3, Rajat Patidar couldn’t get going. Kohli found it tough to find the fence as well as the duo couldn’t really capitalize on the powerplay and crawled to 36/1. Kohli tried upping the ante as he hit Brar for a six and a four in successive overs, but Patidar struggled even to rotate strike.
RCB were just about going at run-a-ball, and the required run-rate had almost risen to 12. That’s when Brar bowled a decisive spell. He knocked over Kohli and Glenn Maxwell off consecutive deliveries and bowled a double-wicket maiden before he had AB de Villiers caught at covers. The left-arm spinner finished his spell with dream wickets and figures of 3/19.
At the other end, Ravi Bishnoi kept things really tight and conceded just 13 runs off his first three overs before he took two wickets in his final over. Jamieson and Patel swung their bats around for a while and reduced the margin of defeat. Patel hit 31 off just 13 balls while Jamieson was unbeaten on 16 off 11 as RCB crashed to a 34-run defeat.
Brief Scores
Punjab Kings 179/5 (Rahul 91*, Gayle 46, Brar 25*, Jamieson 2/32, Ahmed 1/11) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 145/8 (Kohli 35, Harshal 31, Brar 3/19, Bishnoi 2/17) by 34 runs
