Match 26 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 saw Punjab Kings (PBKS) pulling off a convincing victory against in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This was the third victory of the campaign for PBKS that has propelled them to fifth place in the points table.
KL Rahul (91* off 57) played a stellar knock. He was assisted by Chris Gayle in the Powerplay and Harpreet Brar in death overs as Punjab posted a challenging total of 179/5. In reply, RCB could only manage 145/8, courtesy terrific spells from Brar and Ravi Bishnoi.
VICTORY for @PunjabKingsIPL! 👌👌
The @klrahul11-led unit beat #RCB by 34 runs to register their third win of the #VIVOIPL. 👏👏 #PBKSvRCB
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/GezBF86RCb pic.twitter.com/FEzBarw0fL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2021
Although Rahul was a bit slow in the beginning, he did well to accelerate when it mattered. While the wickets kept falling, he held the innings from one end and walked back unbeaten on 91. He has also replaced Shikhar Dhawan as the leading run-getter of the IPL 2021.
What a knock by @klrahul11, showing his class when it mattered the most! Good victory for @PunjabKingsIPL, must say it's great entertainment when you guys are on a roll! Rooting for you guys to be the dark horse this time around! Cricket is a truly funny game #PBKSvsRCB
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 30, 2021
Brar was impressive in what was his first match of the season. He took three crucial wickets – Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers – to give PBKS a leading edge in the game.
Balle tere braraaaaaaaaaaaa.. Sadke tere shera @thisisbrar @PunjabKingsIPL @IPL pic.twitter.com/Uuk2j2MEPc
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 30, 2021
Bishnoi put up another excellent performance. He conceded just 17 runs and picked up two wickets. He bowled in tandem with Brar and pushed RCB to the back foot.
This is the great thing about the #IPL. Stars glittering everywhere and two young men, Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi steal the game!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 30, 2021
Yuzvendra Chahal’s profligacy has been a matter of concern for the RCB. He has been unable to make his presence felt so far in the tournament.
It's going well for RCB because Harshal and Siraj are bowling out of their skin, but do they have a problem with Yuzi Chahal?
He's such a class operator but hasn't been in rythym off-late.
Could a collapse be around the corner for the bowling unit?#PBKSvRCB— Sumedhh Bilgi (@SumedhhBilgi) April 30, 2021
Brar was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his 3-19.
Dream11 GameChanger of the Match between @PunjabKingsIPL and @RCBTweets is Harpreet Brar.@Dream11 #TeamHaiTohMazaaHai #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/ynEHxfLzrJ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2021
Maxwell’s golden duck was the turning point of the game.
.@PunjabKingsIPL fans when Maxwell got out 😜 #PBKSvRCB #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/43a1qWkurY
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) April 30, 2021