Royal Challengers Bangalore got back to winning ways, after the defeat against Chennai Super Kings, to beat Punjab Kings in Match 27 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Composed half-centuries from Virat Kohli (59 off 47) and Faf du Plessis (84 off 56) propelled RCB to a competitive 174/4. Mohd. Siraj then produced his career-best IPL figures (4/24) and pulled off a brilliant run out as RCB survived late fight from Jitesh Sharma (41 off 27) to bowl PBKS out for 150 and win the match by 24 runs.
Chasing 175, PBKS got off to a stuttering start. They received an early blow as they lost opener Atharva Taide off the second ball of the innings. He started off with a four, flicking one off Siraj through square leg but missed the second inswinger and was hit on the pads. The umpire turned down the LBW appeal but RCB opted to review and replays showed it was hitting middle and leg – three reds. The decision was overturned and Taide had to walk back.
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Matthew Short showed early signs of aggression as he thumped a six and a four off Wayne Parnell in the second over. Kohli introduced spin early, in the third over, and the move worked as Wanindu Hasaranga cleaned up Short (8 off 7) who went for a swing across the line by charging down the track first ball but missed it completely.
Kohli then brought back Siraj again and another of his bowling moves worked as the pacer trapped Liam Livingstone LBW. Livingstone came down the track and missed his swing across the line. The umpire turned down the appeal but Kohli went for the review and replays showed three reds again. It was another excellent review from RCB.
Siraj was in action again as he pulled off a brilliant direct hit from mid off to run out Harpreet Singh. PBKS did hit a few fours and sixes but they had lost four wickets inside the Powerplay as they reached 49/4 at the end of six overs.
Prabhsimran Singh, who held fort at one end and kept the scoreboard ticking, then released some pressure as he cracked a couple of sixes off Hasaranga. The Sri Lankan all-rounder though pulled off a brilliant direct-hit run out of Sam Curran in the next over via a powerful throw at the non-striker’s end. PBKS reached 77/5 at the halfway mark. Jitesh Sharma came out and went on the attack straightaway hitting a four and a six off Harshal and in between, he was given out LBW but he reviewed it and replays showed it was missing leg.
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Prabhsimran hit his fourth six of the innings, swiping one over fine leg, off Parnell. But the RCB all-rounder gave a perfect reply next ball as he knocked down Prabhsimran’s (46 off 30) off stump. Shahrukh Khan got off the mark with a huge six off Parnell but couldn’t last long as he was stumped off a googly from Hasaraga in the next over.
With 61 needed off 36, Jitesh Sharma went on the attack, hitting a six off Hasaranga and then a four and six off Vyshak to bring the equation down to 37 off 24. Jitesh received a lifeline in the next over as he mistimed one to long on where Kohli dropped a tough catch as two fielders converged and nearly collided to take the catch. Harshal bowled an excellent over and gave away just seven as the equation read 30 needed from 18 balls.
Siraj then came back and knocked down the stumps of Harpreet Brar (13 off 13) and Nathan Ellis (1 off 2) to finish his best figures in IPL – 4-0-21-4. With 26 needed off 12, Harshal brought Jitesh Sharma’s fighting innings of 41(27) to end as he had him caught at backward point off a slower one as RCB won the match by 24 runs.
Earlier, Punjab Kings captain Sam Curran, who was still leading the side in absence of the injured Shikhar Dhawan who hadn’t recovered, won the toss and elected to bowl. They made two changes to their starting XI as Liam Livingstone and Nathan Ellis replaced Sikandar Raza and Kagiso Rabada. They named Prabhsimran Singh, Sikandar Raza, Mohit Rathee, Rishi Dhawan and Shivam Singh as their substitutes.
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Virat Kohli was leading RCB given that Faf du Plessis potentially couldn’t field because of his rib injury. They made one change to their starting eleven as Suyash Prabhudessai replaced Vyshak. They named Vijaykumar Vyshak, David Willey, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma and Anuj Rawat as their substitutes.
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis got RCB off to a steady start. Kohli was the aggressor to start off as he hit three fours in the first three overs. Du Plesss then opened up as he cracked a couple of sixes off Harpreet Brar as the pair took 17 runs off the fourth over. The duo found gaps with ease with well-placed shots to hit three more fours and bring up another fifty-run stand as RCB reached 59/0 at the end of the Powerplay. Kohli and du Plessis played the short ball well and hit boundaries off it without taking too much of a risk.
Things slowed down a bit after the powerplay and it was Faf du Plessis taking the aggressor’s mantle hitting a six and a couple of fours in the 6-10 over phase and bringing up his fifty off 31 balls. RCB reached 91/0 at the halfway mark.
The duo brought up the 100-run stand off 70 balls but the boundaries weren’t flowing as they went boundary-less for 18 balls. Kohli finally broke the shackles and thumped one wide of long off for a four off Arshdeep to bring up his fifty off 40 balls. He then cracked a six over wide long off, off Nathan Ellis.
Curran bowled an excellent 16th over and could have had the wicket of du Plessis but keeper Jitesh Sharma dropped a tough high catch off a top edge but he made amends in the next over as he plucked a splendid catch diving to his left, off Harpreet Brar, to dismiss Virat Kohli for 59(47).
Brar struck a huge blow off the next ball as he had Maxwell caught at point trying to go for a big one but miscuing it completely. Faf du Plessis then tried to inject the momentum with a couple of sixes but Nathan Ellis bounced back hard after being hit for a six off the previous ball to have the RCB opener caught at long off for 84 (56), off a smart slower delivery.
Karthik and Lomror hit a four each off Arshdeep in the penultimate over from Arshdeep Singh, but the left-arm pacer finished well with the wicket of Karthik off the last ball. Curran bowled a good last over to give away 11 runs as PBKS restricted RCB to 174/4.
PBKS pulled back things really well as RCB were 137/0 from 16 overs. They gave away just 37 in the last four overs and picked up four wickets.
The two teams introduced their Impact Players at the start of the second innings. Prabhsimran Singh replaced Rahul Chahar and walked out to open the batting for PBKS while Vijaykumar Vyshak replaced Faf du Plessis for RCB.
