RCB have continued their magnificent run and have secured their playoff berth with two matches to go. Virat Kohli’s men came out victorious at Sharjah against Punjab Kings by six runs in a close finish and became the third team to qualify for the playoffs.
Glenn Maxwell was the star for RCB with the bat, helping them to post 164/7 with a brilliant 57 off 33 balls. In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal rose to the occasion with an outstanding spell of 3 for 29 as the Kings fell six runs short of the target.
As it happened, the flip of the coin landed in RCB’s favour, with Kohli electing to bat first. On a pitch that hasn’t been great for batting this season, RCB’s opening pair – Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli had a flying start, smashing 55 runs in the powerplay.
But Punjab bowlers pulled things back brilliantly in the next few overs. With the scoreboard reading 68 runs in 9.4 overs, Moises Henriques came out of nowhere to hand RCB the first blow as Kohli chopped it on to the stumps for 25 off 24.
Dan Christian was promoted up the order only to slice his first ball to the point. In his next over, Henriques dismissed another set batter as Padikkal edged it to the keeper for a 38-ball-40. Henriques reduced RCB to 73/3 in 12 overs.
Maxwell wasn’t going to hold back and smashed two sixes off Harpreet Brar in the very next over. He did the same thing to Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over. Maxwell took only 29 balls to bring up his fifth fifty of this season.
AB de Villiers, who was cautious early in his innings, opened his shoulders and landed a couple of glorious sixes in his 18-ball-23 runs knock. The duo added 73 runs for the fourth wicket in just 6.4 overs before de Villiers was run out by Sarfaraz Khan’s brilliant direct hit while Maxwell was dismissed by a short ball of Mohammed Shami in the 20th over. Henriques was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS with 3 for 12 in his four, while Shami returned with 3 for 39.
Punjab Kings were brilliant in their response, adding 49 runs in the powerplay. The duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal punished RCB bowlers to put PBKS in a very strong position. When the scoreboard read 92/0 in 10.4 overs and 73 required off 56 balls, Rahul played a rash shot to open the doors for RCB.
Rahul’s rather sedate knock of 39 off 35 ended as he skipped down the track only to edge it to short third. Nicholas Pooran (3 off 7) tried to sweep Yuzvendra Chahal out of the park but got the toe end of the bat to hole out at deep backward square. The equation had become 66 in 7.1 overs – PBKS still favourites.
However, the dismissal of Mayank Agarwal, who scored a magnificent 57 off 42 balls, at the start of the 16th over tilted the game in RCB’s favour. Aiden Markram (20 off 14) was another big blow for PBKS in the 17th over.
With 37 required off the last three overs, Shahrukh Khan was Punjab’s only hope left. He hit a couple of boundaries but was run out on the first ball of the last over, when 19 runs were required. In the end they fell short by six runs as their campaign almost hit the dead-end.
RCB are sitting at third place with 16 points and have a real shot at finishing in the top two. PBKS will be dependent on other results to go their way for a slight hope.
Brief Scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 164/7 in 20 overs (Maxwell 57, Padikkal 40; Henriques 3/12, Shami 3/39)
Punjab Kings – 158/6 in 20 overs (Agarwal 57, KL Rahul 39; Chahal 3/29, Garton 1/27)
Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 6 runs.
