A scintillating half-century from skipper KL Rahul, followed by a brilliant spell from Harpreet Brar, guided Punjab Kings (PBKS) to their third win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Chasing 180, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fell 34 runs short of the target, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. The victory helped PBKS climb to the fifth spot in the points table.
Virat Kohli won the toss and invited Punjab Kings to bat first. Kyle Jamieson struck early in the Powerplay after Prabhsimran Singh’s miscue fell in the grasp of Kohli, stationed at cover. PBKS went on with their business at a sluggish tempo, with Rahul (91 off 57) batting on 12 after consuming 17 balls by the end of the fourth over.
It all changed in the sixth over when Chris Gayle (46 off 24) amassed 20 runs off Kyle Jamieson to take PBKS to 49/1. Gayle went berserk, welcoming Jamieson with an exquisite shot over the long-off, and followed it with a combination of pull, drives and muscular hoicks over the 30 yards circle to bring five boundaries in an over.
Gayle’s onslaught immediately pulled the team out of a hole dug by Rahul’s lackadaisical approach at the other end. In the next over, Yuzvendra Chahal found himself at the receiving end as Gayle launched twice over the long-off. When Chahal came on to bowl his next, Rahul took him on and finished off with a boundary and a six.
Gayle’s blistering cameo came to an end in the eleventh over. Rahul, meanwhile, held his nerves and reached his half-century in 35 balls. Nicholas Pooran, for the fourth time in six innings, failed to open his account. He was taken aback by the extra bounce and edged itto Shahbaz Ahmed at backward point. Shahrukh Khan, too, fell for a duck: he was bowled through the gate by Chahal. PBKS lost 4 for 28.
At this point the score read 132/5 after 17 overs. However, a timely acceleration from Rahul and Harpreet Brar in the last three overs propelled them to a competitive 179/5. Harshal Patel conceded 40 runs off his last two overs as both batters brought two fours and as many sixes from the 20th over bowled by him.
In reply, RCB got off a slow start and lost an early wicket in Devdutt Padikkal, who missed the line and saw his stumps getting shattered by Riley Meredith. Kohli and Rajat Patidar then batted together for more than seven overs but none of them ever took off, as they could only add 43 runs in that period.
Ravi Bishnoi was probing in his line and length and conceded just six runs from his first two overs. Brar, meanwhile, was slightly expensive and Kohli found it easy to score against him, smashing a six and a four.
When Brar came on to bowl his third over, Kohli shimmied down the track for a big hit, but could not connect the ball as it crashed into his stumps.
Glenn Maxwell, too, suffered the same fate on the very next ball. AB de Villiers survived the hat-trick delivery, but did not last long. In his next over, Harpreet had him caught at short cover by Rahul.
With all of their prolific batters in the dugout, RCB needed 107 runs in the last seven overs of the game. In the end they could only manage 145/8 in 20 overs and suffered the second defeat of their campaign.
For Punjab, Harpreet returned figures of 3-19, while Bishnoi’s (2-17) impressive control and precision have already made him a challenging proposition for the batters.
Brief Score:
Punjab Kings 179/5 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 91*; Kyle Jamieson 2-32) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore 145/8 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 35; Harpreet Brar 3-19) by 34 runs. Player of the match: KL Rahul.