RCB VS PBKS encounter at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai was filled with massive sixes and glorious fours. Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Odean Smith played extravagant knocks in the run-fest between the two teams.
Royal Challengers batted first to post a massive total of 205 runs on the board but failed to defend against Punjab Kings’ power-hitters heavy batting line-up.
At the Toss:
Faf du Plessis and Mayank Agarwal with IPL trophy. (RCB VS PBKS)Mayank Agarwal playing his first match as the newly appointed captain, won the toss for Punjab Kings and opted to bowl first because of the due expected to fall in the 2nd innings of the match.
RCB Innings:
Royal Challengers had a constraint start with Faf Du Plessis struggling to get the timing right. Anuj Rawat did try to strike a few to ropes but did not get that much of a strike in the first 6 overs.
RCB could only muster 41 runs during the field restrictions but did not lose any wickets on a positive note. Rawat departed in the 7th over when he tried to muscle Rahul Chahar’s bowling out of the stadium.
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis (RCB VS PBKS)Kohli then joined Faf in the middle to up the ante for the RCB Innings. The duo did not take any risks before the 10th over and continued to build the foundation by stealing ones and twos in the middle. After the strategic time, Kohli became the aggressor and deposited a huge six off Harpreet Brar to break the shackles.
Faf responded to Kohli’s chivalry and launched a few massive sixes to turn his inning around. His strike rate after the 30 balls skyrocketed above 300 to propel RCB beyond 200. Faf played an enterprising knock of 88 off 57, including 7 gigantic sixes.
Kohli and Faf formed a 118 run stand for the 2nd wicket and did not let the RCB fans miss the presence of ABD. Dinesh Karthik succeeded Faf and played a quickfire 32* off 14 with 3 sixes and 3 fours to ensure that RCB finished 205/2 in 20 overs. Kohli remained unbeaten on 41* at the end of the RCB innings.
PBKS Innings:
Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan did not get rattled by the huge task in front of them. The duo reaped the benefits of field restrictions and propelled Punjab to above 60 runs in the first 6 overs. Agarwal on 31 was sent back into the dressing room by a diving Shahbaz Ahmed at square-leg.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa then entered the fray at DY Patil Stadium to smash the RCBian bowlers. His explosive partnership with Dhawan kept the run-rate under control in the high-scoring game. Both Dhawan and Rajapaksa scored 43 each while playing the role of anchor and aggressor, respectively. Rajapaksa made a mockery of Wanindu Hasaranga in his exciting knock consisting of 4 big ones.
Following Rajapaksa, Livingstone and Raj Bawa’s stay on the crease did not last long as Mohammed Siraj sent both of them back into the pavilion. All responsibility then fell on Odean Smith and Shahrukh Khan to take Punjab over the finish line.
Odean Smith hitting a tennis ball six (RCB VS PBKS)Smith and Shahrukh opened up their hands in the 18th over against Siraj to collect 25 runs off the over. Odean Smith, in particular, muscled Siraj out of the park to clear the way for Kings to chase down the mammoth total. In the end, Punjab won with one over to spare by 5 wickets to become the only team in IPL history to have chased down four totals in excess of 200 successfully.
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