Virat Kohli emerged as the star performer for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they team registered first victory in IPL 2024 with a four-wicket over Punjab Kings at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 25.
With a target of 177, the hosts chased down the target with four balls to spare in the final over of the match. Kohli roared back to his form as he played a scintillating innings of 77 off 49 at an impressive strike rate of 157.16.
Dinesh Karthik (28*) and Mahipal Lamror (17) stepped up for Royal Challengers Bangalorw when the team needed them the most. When RCB required 26 off 18 balls to win the match, Karthik and Lamror took on Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel in the 18th and 19th over, respectively and smashed 26 runs. In the final over, Karthik hit a four and a six off Arshdeep Singh to take RCB past the finishing line.
For Punjab Kings, Harpreet Brar (2/13) and Kagiso Rabada (2/26) picked two wickets each while Sam Curran (1/30) and Harshal Patel (1/45) scalped a wicket each.
First Innings summary
Shashank Singh's late cameo in the middle order helped Punjab Kings post a respectable total of 176/6 in 20 over in the first innings against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the sixth match of IPL 2024 in Bengaluru on Monday.
After putting to bat first by RCB, Punjab Kings lost an early wicket in Jhonny Bairstow for 8 at 17/1. Then, Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh kept the scoreboard ticking and took the team past 50-run mark in seven overs. The pair was looking to form a good partnership until Prabhsimran was dismissed for 23 at 72/2.
Liam Livingstone had a poor outing as he was dismissed for 17 at 98/3. Shikhar Dhawan walked back to dressing room in quick succession after he scored 45 off 27 balls. After Dhawan's dismissal, Sam Curran (23) and Jitesh Sharma (27) chipped in with valuable contributions to take PBKS past 150-run mark.
Shashank Singh played a cameo innings of 20 off 8 balls to ensure Punjab Put a respectable total on the board.
For Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell picked two wickets each while Yash Dayal and Alzarri Joseph took a wicket each.
Toss
Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Fat du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl first against Punjab Kings in Match 6 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Monday.
Both RCB and PBKS have maintained the same playing XI for this clash at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
PBKS are coming into this match on the back of a win against Delhi Capitals while RCB lost their first match against Chennai Super Kings.
"You can say that RCB hasn't won a trophy, but the ladies (RCBW) broke the sealing and hopefully that motivates us.
"The boys are excited for the season. In any game of cricket you can't lose cluster of wickets, we did manage to recover towards the end but that is something we have to improve on," captain du Plessis said at the toss.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma(w), Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat(w), Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
Subs: Arshdeep Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Tanay Thyagarajan, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa
Subs: Suyash Prabhudessai, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Swapnil Singh.
