The Punjab Kings pulled off a stunning chase against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in newly appointed captain Faf du Plessis’ first assignment as captain of the Bengaluru franchise. The South African was in scintillating form with the bat, and his magnificent 88, along with excellent helping hands from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik, propelled RCB to a formidable total of 205 in 20 overs.
PBKS were in the game from the very first ball but appeared to lose their way in the middle. However, a few poor overs from RCB in the field and with the ball, combined with fantastic cameos from Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith, gave Punjab the crucial win.
Mayank Agarwal won the toss in his first game as full-time PBKS captain and put RCB into bat. Du Plessis and Anuj Rawat opened the innings and got off to a decent start before Rahul Chahar got rid of Rawat, who was starting to look dangerous.
This brought du Plessis and Kohli together in the middle. Both batsmen were circumspect, especially du Plessis, who took some time to settle into his innings. However, once both batsmen were set, there was no stopping the duo, as the South African just tore into the attack.
Kohli and Faf added 118 for the second wicket before the latter departed for a wonderful 88, with Shahrukh taking a spectacular catch to bring a close to a world-class knock. Karthik, who walked in at this stage, exhibited the value that he still brings to the table, smashing three boundaries and three sixes, scoring 32 in 14, as he brought RCB’s total to above 200.
Tasked with chasing 206, PBKS openers Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan were off to a flyer in the powerplay, getting in excess of 60 runs. Agarwal departed shortly after the powerplay, but Dhawan carried on the barrage of boundaries along with Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who also played a blinder of an innings, getting 43 in 22 balls, as he put his side firmly in the driving seat. His dismissal was immediately followed by that of U19 sensation Raj Bawa, who walked back for a golden duck.
Nevertheless, Punjab were still in the game with Liam Livingstone looking to be in good nick, but that would not carry on for long, as a brilliant catch from Rawat got rid of the Englishman. Smith was next into the crease and was the one who took the game away from RCB and just ended the game as a contest, as he smashed 25 runs off Mohammed Siraj’s final over.
Shahrukh then made quick work of the remaining 11 runs to finish off the game with an over to spare. Smith received the man of the match award for his high impact batting performance despite a poor showing with the ball.
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 205/2 in 20 overs (Du Plessis 88; Kohli 41*; Chahar 1/22) lost to Punjab Kings – 208/5 in 19 overs (Rajapaksa 43; Dhawan 43; Siraj 2/59)
PBKS beat RCB by five wickets with six balls to spare
