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And that is that from a Super Sunday! The IPL is up and running and it has been quite a thrill already. More action in store tomorrow and history will be made once the coin goes up - it's the clash of the debutants, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, as the action moves back to the Wankhede Stadium. Do join us for our coverage of the same tomorrow at 7.30 PM IST, right here on Sportskeeda, while also keeping yourselves up to date with all the other cricketing action from across the globe. Thank you so much for tuning in and we hope you enjoyed our coverage of this game just as much as we did bringing it to you. On behalf of my good friend and co-commentator Bala, this is Sooryanarayanan once again reminding you to mask up and get yourselves vaccinated in case you haven't already! Good night, take care and have a great week ahead!
They're motivated. They're in it to win it. They're here to make a statement. Ladies and gentlemen, do not take your eyes off the Punjab Kings this season. This is as exhilarating a T20 outfit as they come. We've spoken enough of it post the player auction going by their squad on paper and haven't they made a solid first impression today!
As for RCB, it's very early days in the competition of course and they will have enough time to recover from this. Still a long, long way to go indeed and while there are positives they will take from their batting, they will look back on their shabby bowling performance and seek to correct it soon enough ahead of their next game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. Incidentally, the Kings too play KKR on Friday to welcome the new month in.
Odean Smith is the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 8-ball 25-run blitz!
Smith: We were stressing on having a good start. It was all about belief. Once we got a good start we knew we have the power at the back end. It didn't go to plan with my bowling - I've got to work on that. But I'm glad to get my team home (with the bat). It was all about execution and that's the reason why it went haywire (with the ball). (Any baggage given the team hasn't won the title?) It can be a first for most of us. Punjab Kings haven't won the title yet but it's all about winning. We watched a motivational movie called 14 Peaks. The first peak is done, 13 more to go.
Mayank Agarwal (Punjab Kings Captain): (Relieved?) Definitely! Two points for us is very important. Nice to start on a winning note. Very good wicket - chasing 200+ is never easy but I thought we batted really well. It held up just the one or two balls but it was a very good wicket and it got better batting second with the dew. We held our nerve and took the right chances - I'm glad it came off. I thought we gave them 15-20 more. The way Faf and Virat batted in between really took the game away from us. But I thought we did give away 15-20 more so for us to come out and bat the way we did was really good. It's a lot to do with the depth but also, we trust our skills. We've made it clear in the dressing room that whoever is out there is good enough to win the game. If it doesn't come off, it doesn't come off but we are not going to panic.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa: What we thought was to just go quick. Wanindu is my teammate and I know him. It worked out for me. I think it's about knowing him and playing him for a long time now. We've played together for about 4-5 years. It's about bringing that knowledge to the side and it worked out for me. It's such a big confidence booster for us - we just saw this movie called 14 Peaks and it's 14 games for us. Credit goes to the bowlers for trying to keep them under 200. We gave away a lot of runs in the middle-overs and 130 runs in the last 10 overs. That is something we can look to improve upon and come back stronger.
Faf du Plessis (RCB Captain): The batting was really good from Punjab. Probably the catches towards the end (cost us). We probably dropped him (Odean Smith) on when he was 10 or something. He is a powerful hitter. If we had held on to the chances. Though it's a cliche, catches win matches. There was some dew out there. Again, it's about small margins. They chased it down well. Had a really good powerplay. The ball skidded on a little more in the second innings. They played beautifully. We know what Odean smith can do to you. Get him out early and Shahrukh Khan did not really nail it. It would have been a completely different game if we had held on to chances. (Batting) It was really pleasing. It was tough in the beginning, with the ball swinging. Totally tired with all the running.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 205/2 in 20 overs, lose to Punjab Kings 208/5 in 19 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 43 off 22 balls, Shikhar Dhawan 43 off 29 balls, Odean Smith 25* off 8 balls)
39 overs, 7 wickets and a gargantuan 414 runs! Let that sink in folks! The IPL is back at the DY Patil Stadium after a gap of 11 years and hasn't it returned with a bang!
206 was never going to be easy to chase but given the kind of intent merchants at the Kings' disposal, it was expected that they would go hammer and tongs straightaway. Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan did exactly that, racking up 63 in the Powerplay to set up the perfect foundation for the Kings.
With the skipper timing the ball as well as he ever has, Dhawan was the perfect foil in that he anchored the innings while never sucking momentum out of the game. The biggest thrust to the chase came in the form of Sri Lankan debutant Bhanuka Rajapaksa though, who mind you, might not have slotted into the XI had a certain Jonny Bairstow been available.
But he isn't here to just make up the names, is he? He came out meaning business, and despite a couple of top-edges that did travel the distance, he never bogged down to the asking rate, taking a particular liking to his countryman Wanindu Hasaranga.
But then again, there was the famed PBKS collapse (or at least the signs seemed to suggest so). Back-to-back wickets for Mohammed Siraj suddenly threw a spanner into the works of the chase. Every batter who walked out there breathed intent, however, and the gunslinger named Odean Smith tore the bowling unit into shreds.
Mohammed Siraj took an absolute hammering and with 21 wides overall, RCB were always going to come back and pay the price for the same. That, in many ways, has turned out to be the difference with the Kings romping home thanks to Smith's belligerence in the slog overs. Quite a manic show indeed!
They've taken it into the final over on many an occasion in the last couple of seasons, only to squander it. No Kartik Tyagi this time to deny PBKS - they've ensured the job's done and dusted with an over to spare. What an exhibition we've witnessed! Punjab Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 5 wickets with an over to spare!
19
overs
208/5score
2
1w
0
6
0
0
4
runs
Shahrukh Khan*
24(20)
Odean Smith
25(8)
Harshal Patel
1/36
18.6 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, FOUR! BOOM! Full ball around the off-stump. Absolutely hammered down the ground. That has travelled at the rate of knots. That will do for the Punjab Kings!
18.5 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, right in the blockhole this time. All he can do is to dig it out back to the bowler
18.4 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, low full toss wide of off. Swing and a miss this time. Harshal Patel really got away there
200 up for Punjab Kings! They're nearly home!
18.3 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, IN THE AIR! Clears the fence! Magnificent! They are just two runs away from the win now. Slower ball but it's right in the slot. Shahrukh picks up the change in pace and lofts it back over the bowler's head
18.2 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, short ball wide of off. Good change up from Harshal. The batter pulls but doesn't make contact
18.2 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, fails to execute the wide yorker once again, straying past the tramline. Another extra to the total
18.1 Harshal Patel to Shahrukh Khan, slower ball full on the off-sutmp. Gets a leading edge to cover point. The call is for two right away and they make it back comfortably
It's all on Harshal Patel now as far as RCB are concerned.
ODEAN SMITH! The Jamaican six-hitting monster is putting on a show of some kind! Get out of here - this is ridiculous! Surely, the Kings can't lose it hereon? You don't want to miss out on his six-hitting carnage - tune in to Disney+ Hotstar and catch it live immediately!