Riding on the depth of their batting lineup, Punjab Kings put up a highly impressive chase to overhaul Royal Challengers Bangalore’s total of 205 runs in the Indian Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday.
After Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik powered RCB to a formidable total on a flat pitch, Punjab were on top in the chase from the start and remained composed till the end to win by five wickets and with six balls to spare.
Openers Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan added 71 runs in seven overs to give Punjab the perfect start in the chase and from there on it came down to four crucial, power-packed knocks that saw the team through.
Sri Lankan keeper-bat Bhanuka Rajapaksa started it with a brilliant 43 off 22. The left-hander took the responsibility of going after his compatriot Wanindu Hasaranga and kept the scoring-rate high after the opening stand.
Mohammed Siraj then removed Rajapaksa and Raj Angad Bawa off consecutive deliveries and RCB would’ve fancied their chances at that point but Liam Livingstone came to the crease and smashed 19 off 10 to hand the momentum back to Punjab.
From there on it was Odean Smith, who won the player of the award, who hammered 25* runs off just eight deliveries which stole the show. The West Indies all-rounder got together with Shahrukh Khan (24* off 20) to seal the deal.
Earlier, RCB’s new skipper du Plessis started slowly but accelerated in style to finish with 88 off 57 at the top of the order. Kohli, batting at No 3, was also amongst the runs and scored an unbeaten 41 off 29. And Karthik added the finishing touch to an impressive performance by RCB as he scored 32* off 14.
Punjab could manage to pick just two wickets, with leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (1/22) being the pick of the bowlers.