Punjab Kings opened their IPL 2022 campaign with a stunning five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
After being invited to bat first, brilliant knocks by skipper Faf du Plessis (88 off 57), Virat Kohli (41 not out off 29) and Dinesh Karthik (32 not out off 14) powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205-2 in 20 overs.
Apart from the trio of Du Plessis, Kohli and Karthik, Anuj Rawat also made valuable contributions with the bat for RCB with his knock of 21 off 20. For Punjab Kings, Rahul Chahar (1/22) and Arshdeep Singh (1/31) took a wicket apiece.
In reply, top three batters Mayank Agarwal (32) and Shikhar Dhawan (43), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (43) played freely and gave Punjab a solid base to chase the big target. And, lower down the order, Shahrukh Khan (24) and Odean Smith (25) remained unbeaten and helped Punjab chase down the target with one over to spare and five wickets in hand.
Mohammed Siraj was the highest wicketer as well as most expensive bowler for RCB with his figures of 2/59
Check out the points table after this clash:
1. Delhi Capitals - 2 points (played 1, won 1)
2. Punjab Kings - 2 points (played 1, won 1)
3. Kolkata Knight Riders - 2 points (played 1, won 1)
4. Chennai Super Kings - 0 points (played 1, won 0
5. Royal Challengers Bangalore - 0 points (played 1, won 0)
6. Mumbai Indians - 0 points (played 1, won 0)
Here is the Orange Cap holders top-3 list:
1. F du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore) 88
2. Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) 81
3. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) 50
Here is the Purple Cap holders list:
1. Kuldeep Yadav (Delhi Capitals) 3 wickets
2. Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings) 3 wickets
3. Basil Thampi (Mumbai Indians) 3 wickets