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Who would have imagined RCB to stay afloat in the tournament with just two more matches remaining. They had lost seven out of their first eight games and it looked dead and buried for them. However they have risen from the phoenix and have given thesemlves a chance with a couple of games to go. They have to win those two and that too by decent margins to leapfrog the 4th placed side. Two wins and a superior net run rate might not be enough as other teams could make it through on the virtue of wins only. RCB would be telling themselves that why didn't they play this brand of cricket in the first half of the tournament. For Punjab Kings, it's all but over as they join Mumbai Indians as the second team to get knocked out of the tournament. There were some moments for them in the tournament but couldn't conjure wins which are needed to go through to the playoffs. They have now failed to make the last four for the 10th consecutive time in the IPL. Not a result they would be proud of but they still have a couple of games to play and they have pride to play for. The IPL extravaganza will continue tomorrow with the Chennai Super Kings slated to lock horns against the Gujarat Titans. Join us then and for many more sporting actions on Sportskeeda but for now, this is me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Pragadeesh. Goodnight! Cheers!
Virat Kohli (Player of the Match): I mean it's still quality over quantity. I am heading towards 36 so it works very well. Understanding the game for so many years allows you to stay fresh with minimum work. You want to keep improving certain aspects of the game. I am not the guy who will sit around and not to try and improve what I need to. I mentally put myself in that situation. I know I can hit the slog sweep, for me that shot I used to hit regularly back in the day. I am looking to expose that side of the field. It takes a bit more conviction which I have found to what happens if you give away your wicket. It has helped me improving my strike rate this season. The only way to go through a long tournament is to be honest with yourself. This is not an ideal scenario as we knew we were not playing good enough cricket. The starting point was Kolkata, that game gave us a bit more confidence. A point came where we wanted to play for self respect. We wanted to not play in a win which doesn't make us proud or the fans proud. We are on a roll but the thought is always there if you could have got this momentum a well earlier so these calculations wouldn't have come into picture.
Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain): Yeah it was a really good game. Scoring 240 after losing the toss. The method and the aggression is really good to see. We have had some conversations as we felt we were making the same mistakes over and over again. The aggression with the bat was something we wanted to change. You can't just play normal T20 cricket these days. We spoke about how to get more wickets in the powerplay. We challenged a few members. We went to different resources which have worked pretty well. I think you understand that you need some form. The way we started, we have a few guys were looking for runs. You need guys with character to turn it around. There are few guys now with some form behind them. We want to keep playing in the manner we have been doing. We have proven how good a team we are in the last four games. If we do get things right, we are a very dangerous team.
Rilee Rossouw gets the award for hitting most fours in the match.
Virat Kohli also bags the award for hitting most sixes in the match.
Virat Kohli bags the Ultimate Fantasy Player of the Match Award.
Rajat Patidar gets the Electric striker of the match award.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony with Murali Kartik.
Swapnil Singh - I enjoyed a lot. The pressure is less because everyone is going for runs. Mentally, you think you will also go for runs but things are going well for me. After the first half, we had a meeting and in that, there was a discussion that we didn't use the spinners effectively. As we are on a roll and we have to hit the length. If the batter is doing great, then credit to him but we have to hit the right areas
Sam Curran (Punjab Kings Captain) - It's frustrating. A lot of positive signs throughout the tournament but I am gutted with the defeat. I guess we knew what's going to be around and we know what's the best side of the tournament. We will come back stronger by learning from the mistakes. I enjoyed leading the great bunch of guys and we will try to finish on a high by winning the next two matches. We apologise to the fans but we will keep fighting . We had a lot of highs by chasing a record score but lost too many tight matches. There were a lot of disappointment inside me now
It turned out to be a pretty comfortable win in the end for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they bowled out Punjab Kings for 181 in 17 overs to keep their hopes alive in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was a wholehearted bowling effort from all the bowlers as they kept chipping away with the wickets despite an onslaught from Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw.
The target was always going to be a highly challenging ask for Punjab and they were pegged back further with the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh in the opening over. Rossouw made that a productive over for Punjab with a couple of boundaries to get going. The powerplay continued to be dominated by Punjab as the boundaries kept flowing from the blade of blade of both Bairstow and Rossouw.
Bairstow after smashing four fours and a six departed off the penultimate delivery of the powerplay which turned out to be a massive moment in the game. Shashank Singh was sent up the order and he started with a beautiful flick of his wrist. Rossouw continued the good work and went onto smash his maiden half-century of the season. He looked to dominate the bowlers and it was he who provided the impetus.
They kept racing away, but Rossouw's dismissal in the 9th over turned the match around as the RCB bowlers were all over the Punjab batters. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals with Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone departing in quick succession. Shashank was batting well and it required an incredible bit of fielding from Virat Kohli to run him out at a crucial juncture of the game.
Ashutosh Sharma smashed a six to begin with but Mohammed Siraj had his number soon after. Sam Curran was castled the next over by Lockie Ferguson and it was no looking back for RCB. Punjab were eventually bowled out cheaply for 181 with three overs still left. Mohammed Siraj finished with three wickets while Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma and Lockie Ferguson chipped in with a couple of wickets each.
That's a massive win for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Their 4th consecutive win and that too by a massive margin of 60 runs. With the loss, Punjab Kings joins the Mumbai Indians as the second team to get eliminated from the tournament. What a surge this has been from the Royal Challengers. After looking dead and buried after the first eight games they have somehow come back very strongly to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. A couple more handsome wins might just propel them to the playoffs. A job well done by the RCB bowlers. Virat Kohli was again the man of moment scoring a magical 92 to lay the foundation for a pretty big win.
17
overs
181/10score
W
2wd
0
1
0
4
W
runs
Arshdeep Singh*
4(3)
Rahul Chahar
5(5)
Mohammed Siraj
3/43
16.6 Mohammed Siraj to Arshdeep Singh, OUT! RCB keep their winning streak alive, and moreover, their playoff hopes are alive too. But It's all over for PBKS as they become the second team to get knocked out. Off-pace delivery angling across off, Arshdeep swings early and the ball balloons it to mid-on. Karn Sharma takes a simple catch to finish the formalities.
Arshdeep Singh c Karn Sharma b Mohammed Siraj 4 (3b, 1x4, 0x6)
Arshdeep did very well to reach that. Clears his whole body and slices it away down towards the deep point fence. He was backing away just a too much but somehow managing to get some bat on that.
16.5 Mohammed Siraj to Arshdeep Singh, FOUR! Steps away and Siraj bowls full angling across off, Arshdeep carves it behind square and it races away for a boundary
16.4 Mohammed Siraj to Arshdeep Singh, angles the length delivery across off, Arshdeep drags it to short mid-wicket
16.3 Mohammed Siraj to Rahul Chahar, yorker length angling back, Chahar jams it down to long-on for one
16.2 Mohammed Siraj to Rahul Chahar, angles the length delivery across off, Chahar swings across the line but the ball goes just over the leg-stump
16.2 Mohammed Siraj to Arshdeep Singh, 2 WIDES! Bangs it into the track, Arshdeep steps away to swing but the ball goes well over the helmet. DK can't collect it and they sneak a run