Mohali: Punjab Kings suffered a setback as they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 24 runs in their sixth match of the ongoing Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium here on Thursday.
The visitors rode on impact player Faf du Plessis’ 84 off 56 and Virat Kohli’s 47-ball 59 to post 174/4.
In reply, Prabhsimran Singh (46) and Jitesh Sharma (41) played impressive cameos before the Punjab were bowled out for 150 in 18.2 overs.
Punjab captain Sam Curran won the toss and opted to field first. The hosts made two changes, bringing in Liam Livingstone and Nathan Ellis replacing Sikandar Raza and Kagiso Rabada.
Kohli led Bangalore as Faf du Plessis struggled with an injury.
Kohli and du Plessis got off to a great start as the visitors crossed fifty in 5.1 overs. The Protean soon brought up his 29th IPL fifty off 31 balls.
The openers continued to play sensibly as Bangalore reached a hundred in 11.4 overs.
Meanwhile, Punjab star leg-spinner, Rahul Chahar bowled an impressive spell as he conceded just 24 runs in his quota of four overs.
Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar broke the 137-run opening stand as he dismissed Kohli (59) courtesy of a brilliant catch taken by the wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma.
On the next ball, Brar bagged the wicket of Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck. Interestingly, this was the third time Brar claimed the wicket of Maxwell this season.
Punjab continued to pick up wickets regularly. Nathan Ellis bagged the crucial wicket of du Plessis (84). In the 19th over, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh joined the party as he removed RCB wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (7).
Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran opened the innings. Atharva smashed the first ball for a boundary before he was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj.
Matthew Short walked out to bat at No.3. The Australian clobbered Wayne Parnell for a monster six over fine leg. But Short (8) was cleaned up by Wanindu Hasaranga.
Punjab lost their third wicket as Siraj trapped Livingstone (2) in front of the stumps.
Harpreet Singh, the southpaw, slammed boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving. But In the sixth over, the Kings succumbed to another blow as Harpreet (13) was dismissed due to an unfortunate run-out.
With Punjab struggling at 43/4, skipper Sam Curran joined Prabhsimran at the crease.
Prabhsimran smashed Hasaranga for two maximums to accumulate 14 runs in the ninth over.
Our skipper upped the ante as he hit Vijaykumar Vyshak for a four through extra cover. But Bangalore successfully bagged their fifth wicket as Curran was short of the crease on the bowlers’ end.
Accelerating after 76/5, Jitesh and Prabhsimran slammed multiple boundaries to keep Punjab in the hunt.
However, Prabhsimran was later cleaned up by Parnell for a well-made 46 off just 30 balls.
With 78 runs needed off 51 balls, Shahrukh Khan joined Jitesh in the middle.
Shahrukh quickly got off the mark by hitting Parnell for a huge maximum. But he (7) was dismissed by Hasaranga in the 13th over.
In desperate need of holding wickets, Brar and Jitesh stitched a pacey partnership.
In the 16th over, Jitesh slammed Vyshak for a boundary and clobbered him for a 83-metre six to garner 13 runs. Punjab still needed 37 runs in the last four overs.
Our skipper upped the ante as he hit Vijaykumar Vyshak for a four through extra cover. But Bangalore successfully bagged their fifth wicket as Curran was short of the crease on the bowlers’ end.
Accelerating after 76/5, Jitesh and Prabhsimran slammed multiple boundaries to keep Punjab in the hunt.
However, Prabhsimran was later cleaned up by Parnell for a well-made 46 off just 30 balls. With 78 runs needed off 51 balls, Shahrukh joined Jitesh in the middle. Shahrukh quickly got off the mark by hitting Parnell for a huge maximum. But he (7) was dismissed by Hasaranga in the 13th over, reported Punjab Kings portal.
In desperate need of holding wickets, Brar and Jitesh stitched a pacey partnership.
In the 16th over, Jitesh slammed Vyshak for a boundary and clobbered him for a 83-metre six to amass 13 runs. Punjab still needed 37 runs in the last four overs.
Unfortunately, Siraj ended the 41-run stand as he dismissed Brar for run-a-ball 13. The Bangalore pacer also cleaned up Ellis with Punjab still needing 26 runs off 12 balls.
Harshal Patel bagged the final wicket of Jitesh as the visitors registered a 24-run victory. (UNI)
