Punjab Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They produced a phenomenal bowling performance and later, Nehal Wadhera played a vital knock to get the job done in a rain-marred match.
Punjab Kings produced one of the best bowling performances against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen were ruthless with the ball in the first innings and courtesy of their wrath, Bengaluru were reduced to 42/7 at one stage. They were close to registering IPL’s lowest total at one point, but Tim David played a phenomenal knock, scoring his maiden half-century in the cash-rich league in order to help RCB post 95 runs on the board.
Notably, nine of RCB batters registered in single digits in the first innings. Only Rajat Patidar, who made 23 and David’s unbeaten 50 were the highlights for the team. On the other hand, Punjab’s Arshdeep, Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harpreet Brar picked up two wickets each for the team.
When it came to the chase, Punjab struggled heavily. What was once thought to be a cake walk for them turned extremely difficult. Openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya had the freedom to express themselves in the middle but they couldn’t make the most the opportunity. They made 16 and 13 runs respectively.
Captain Shreyas Iyer, who batted at number three, failed to get going as well. He made only seven runs off 10 balls and things started to get complicated for the Kings. Josh Inglis’ wicket put them under immense pressure as RCB bowlers had a sensational game. Josh Hazlewood particularly looked ruthless in the middle, picking up two wickets for 14 runs in his three overs. That was expected to help RCB stitch a comeback but Nehal Wadhera had a different plan.
The youngster was incredible, to say the least. He made unbeaten 33 runs of 19 balls to win the game for Punjab. With the win, Punjab moved to second on the points table with 10 points to their name after seven matches.