Royal Challengers Bengaluru, IPL champions. The 17-year-long wait was brought to an end by the Rajat Patidar-led side as RCB successfully defended their 190/9 against Punjab Kings in a six-run victory. Krunal Pandya, who has experienced the highs of an IPL title win thrice before and was the catalyst in 2017, put on yet another star turn with a championship-winning spell through the middle-overs (2-17) that left PBKS behind in chase.
RCB's batting continues their good form
Phil Salt commenced his innings by targeting the fine leg boundary against Arshdeep Singh but was dismissed in the second over by Kyle Jamieson after misjudging a powerful shot. Shreyas Iyer, positioned at mid-on, backpedaled, maintained focus on the ball, and successfully caught it near the boundary. Virat Kohli faced merely 10 deliveries during the PowerPlay, while Mayank Agarawal, coming in at one-drop, had a shaky start but managed to connect a few shots. PBKS emerged as the superior team, with the ball exhibiting slight movement for the fast bowlers.
Yuzvendra Chahal immediately applied pressure. Mayank’s slog sweep went directly to Arshdeep at deep backward square leg. The pitch once again proved favorable for variations in pace. Kohli was experiencing a difficult start but capitalized on a predictable slower bouncer from Azmatullah Omarzai, driving it for a four over the wicketkeeper. Patidar, as is his custom, attacked the spin, hitting Chahal for a six over mid-wicket. Jamieson also opted to reduce the pace, a strategy he had effectively used against the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier at this venue. However, he took a different approach to dismiss Patidar. After four slower deliveries of varying lengths that Patidar successfully negotiated, Jamieson delivered a full, straight ball at 132kmph, which the RCB captain failed to connect with, resulting in an LBW dismissal.
Chahal bowled an outstanding six-run over to Kohli and the newly arrived Liam Livingstone. RCB found themselves in a difficult position from the halfway point but began to recover immediately after the timeout. Livingstone and Kohli scored 14 runs off Chahal, but Omarzai silenced the RCB supporters in the subsequent over. He persisted with short deliveries against Kohli and ultimately dismissed him with a catch taken off the leading edge, covering significant ground.
Jitesh Sharma took it upon himself to change the momentum. He struck two fours off Arshdeep and then decisively took down Jamieson, who had bowled three outstanding overs earlier. Jitesh ramped a short ball over fine leg and smashed a straight six when the pacer altered his length to deliver a full ball. Livingstone contributed to the score in the same over before being dismissed leg before wicket off a full toss. Romario Shepherd entered the field and almost immediately received a second chance as Praveen Dubey dropped a challenging catch while running in from mid-wicket. In the midst of a heated exchange, Vyshak bowled Jitesh, silencing the RCB supporters in the stands once more. However, Shepherd reignited their spirits with a four over fine leg and a colossal six over mid-wicket off Omarzai. Arshdeep, however, shifted the game again, delivering a superb full ball to trap the West Indian leg before wicket in the final over. After conceding 37 runs in his first three overs, Arshdeep’s fourth over, in the 20th, read: 1 W 1 W 1 W.
Punjab Kings fell short by just 6 runs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood initially exploited Prabhsimran Singh’s vulnerability against short balls, yet they were unable to dismiss him. When facing Bhuvneshwar, the PBKS opener executed a cut shot that narrowly evaded the outstretched hand at deep backward point. Against Hazlewood, he top-edged a pull shot towards Shepherd at fine leg, who unfortunately dropped the catch. Meanwhile, Priyansh Arya experienced a tumultuous innings, managing to send two top-edges to the third man boundary for consecutive fours before Phil Salt made a remarkable catch at the boundary to eliminate the left-hander. Josh Inglis struck Yash Dayal for a six, but overall, the RCB pace trio effectively restricted Punjab’s scoring during the initial phase.
Krunal Pandya commenced with a three-run over as Prabhsimran’s difficulties continued. Suyash Sharma provided him with an opportunity to escape with a full delivery in his hitting zone, which the opener dispatched for a straight six. Inglis also pulled a googly for a six as the duo accumulated 15 runs off the leg-spinner. After the timeout, Krunal remained a thorn in Prabhsimran’s side, ultimately having the opener caught at backward point. The situation worsened for PBKS in the 10th over when Shepherd induced Shreyas Iyer to edge one behind. Inglis attempted to counterattack with a six off Shepherd in the wicket over and another off Krunal in the following over, but the left-arm spinner was in the midst of an impressive bowling spell, conceding only 14 runs in three overs. Patidar entrusted him with a fourth consecutive over, and the left-arm spinner rewarded that confidence by claiming Inglis’s wicket, significantly diminishing PBKS’s momentum. Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera struggled against Suyash’s spin, yet the left-hander managed to hit a four and a six off Shepherd, keeping their hopes alive as they approached the death overs.
Shashank struck two sixes against Hazlewood during a 17-run 16th over, bringing the game back to a balanced state. However, Bhuvneshwar advanced RCB closer to victory by taking the wickets of Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis in the 17th over. Subsequently, Azmatullah Omarzai was dismissed in the 18th over by Dayal, leaving Shashank with an overwhelming task. He managed to hit a six and a four off Bhuvneshwar in the second to last over, reducing the target to 29 runs needed from 6 balls. Hazlewood delivered two dot balls to conclude the match, and Kohli was seen in tears, while Shashank responded with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 6 in the following four deliveries.
SCORECARD: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 190/9 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 43, Rajat Patidar 26; Arshdeep Singh 3-40) beat Punjab Kings 184/7 in 20 overs (Shashank Singh 61*, Josh Inglis 39; Krunal Pandya 2-17) by 6 runs.
