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Royal Challengers Bengaluru have marched to the final for the first time since 2016 in some style. The Royal Challengers were all over the Punjab Kings and were unarguably the better team in all three facets of the game. They registered an eight-wicket victory as they chased down the target with 10 overs left. Phil Salt scored a 23-ball half-century, his fastest in the Indian Premier League.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 72/1 in 7 overs. Need 30 runs in 13 overs. Salt: 48* (21), Agarawal: 8* (9)
Phil Salt seems to be in a hurry to get this chase done. Facing his first ball from Harpreet Brar, the right-handed batter smashed a sixth on the second ball of the seventh over. Someone from the RCB camp must let him know that tonight’s game will have no bearing on the net run rate.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 61/1 in 6 overs. Need 41 runs in 14 overs. Salt: 40* (18), Agarawal: 5* (6)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have ended the power play on a great note. Mayank Agarawal, after playing and missing his first four balls, got off the mark with a boundary off the first ball of the sixth over. Phil Salt, too, struck a couple of fours and a six to make it a costly end to the power play.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 40/1 in 5 overs. Need 62 runs in 15 overs. Salt: 24* (14), Agarawal: 0* (4)
Azmatullah Omarzai, too, has bowled a few peaches with the ball seaming away from Phil Salt after pitching. However, the Afghan pacer gave some width to the right-handed batter and was struck for a four. The English batter ended the over with another boundary to calm things down.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 30/1 in 4 overs. Need 72 runs in 16 overs. Salt: 14* (8), Agarawal: 0* (4)
Finally, something to cheer about for the fans of the Punjab Kings as Kyle Jamieson dismisses Virat Kohli on the second ball of the fourth over. It was a short-pitched delivery that moved enough to catch the edge of Kohli’s poking bat. The tall pacer bowled a couple of jaffas to welcome Mayank Agarawal to the crease. It was a wicket maiden over from the tall Kiwi pacer.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 30/0 in 3 overs. Need 72 runs in 17 overs. Salt: 14* (8), Kohli: 12* (10)
Nothing is going in PBKS’ way as a top-edge from Phil Salt goes to the boundary over the wicketkeeper in the third over. He struck a huge six to end the over that came from the middle of the bat.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 17/0 in 2 overs. Need 85 runs in 18 overs. Salt: 3* (4), Kohli: 10* (8)
Virat Kohli has got a great start here in spite of a pretty small chase. Games like these can kill off the batters’ momentum heading into the final, but Kohli is making sure that he carries on with his form from the league stage.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 11/0 in 1 over. Need 91 runs in 19 overs. Salt: 2* (2), Kohli: 5* (4)
Defending a meagre target, Arshdeep Singh was struck for a couple of fours in his first over. It was Virat Kohli who took the attack against the left-arm seamer, with one of the boundaries coming off as leg-byes.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have absolutely stunned the Punjab Kings in the first innings. The RCB bowlers were right on the money with their lines and lengths, and thanks to some pretty poor shots from the hosts, they bowled PBKS out for a score of only 101 runs. It was the three pacers, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Josh Hazlewood, with the new ball, as they picked up four wickets in the first six overs. Suyash Sharma controlled the middle overs and picked up three wickets in his first two overs.
Punjab Kings are at 97/9 after 13.3 overs. Omarzai: 18* (11)
Romario Shepherd came to the attack to bowl the 14th over. The West Indian seamer was struck for a four courtesy of an outside from Omarzai’s bat. However, the pacer dismissed Brar in the same over with some extra bounce.
Punjab Kings are at 92/8 after 13 overs. Omarzai: 13* (9), Brar: 4* (10)
Azmatullah Omarzai gave the PBKS fans something to cheer about as the Afghan all-rounder struck a six that marginally cleared the boundary at cow corner. Harpreet Brar, on the other hand, has found it pretty tough to get going against the spinner.
Punjab Kings are at 83/8 after 12 overs. Omarzai: 5* (6), Brar: 3* (7)
Yash Dayal bowled out his quota of four overs with a quiet over. The left-arm pacer gave away only five runs and ended his night with figures of 2/26
Punjab Kings are at 78/8 after 11 overs. Omarzai: 3* (4), Brar: 0* (3)
Suyash Sharma dismissed Marcus Stoinis in his second over. The Aussie batter attempted a hoick to send the ball to the stands but completely missed to have his stumps rattled. The Kings seem to be in a hurry to finish this game. However, unfortunately for them, it is their batters who are losing the plot and marching back to the dressing room.
Punjab Kings are at 71/7 after 10 overs. Stoinis: 26* (15), Omarzai: 2* (3)
Marcus Stoinis is playing a great knock for the Kings. In spite of the position where PBKS find themselves, the Australian batter stepped down the pitch and struck a huge six on the first ball he faced from Krunal Pandya in the 10th over.
Punjab Kings are at 61/7 after 9 overs. Stoinis: 17* (11), Omarzai: 1* (1)
Suyash Sharma has struck on his second ball thanks to a wild slog from Shashank Singh. The right-handed batter attempted a slog sweep to put the leg-spinner under pressure but failed to make a connection and had his stumps rattled. Musheer Khan came to bat at the fall of the sixth wicket as the impact sub. The young right-hander is making his debut in the Indian Premier League. The move to send the impact sub did not work in PBKS’ favour as the 20-year-old was dismissed on the third delivery he faced. He wasted a review as well, challenging the on-field call for LBW.
Punjab Kings are at 59/5 after 8 overs. Stoinis: 16* (10), Shashank: 3* (4)
Marcus Stoinis seems to be holding all the cards for the Punjab Kings. The Aussie batter is taking the attack back to RCB. He struck his third boundary of the innings against Hazlewood, who too returned to bowl his third over.
Punjab Kings are at 52/5 after 7 overs. Stoinis: 10* (5), Shashank: 2* (3)
Yash Dayal was given a third over by his skipper, and he repaid the trust shown in him with another wicket. It was the local boy, Nehal Wadhera, who played one back to his stumps as half of the PBKS side was back in the pavilion. Shashank Singh, in spite of coming to the crease at a tumultuous period for his side, charged down the pitch on the first ball he faced.
Punjab Kings are at 48/4 after 6 overs. Wadhera: 6* (7), Stoinis: 10* (5)
The batters from Punjab Kings are falling like ninepins in New Chandigarh in front of their home crowd. Hazlewood, in his second over, dismissed his compatriot, Josh Inglis, on the first ball of the sixth over. Marcus Stoinis, coming to bat at number six, got away with an inside that went past the off stump to the boundary fence. Stoinis struck a huge six on the fifth ball of the over to provide some impetus to the innings.
Punjab Kings are at 38/3 after 5 overs. Inglis: 4* (6), Wadhera: 6* (7)
Yash Dayal came back in the attack with a change of ends. The left-arm pacer started his second over with a front-foot no-ball. The free hit was struck by Nehal Wadhera for a four down the ground.
Punjab Kings are at 31/3 after 4 overs. Inglis: 3* (4), Wadhera: 1* (2)
After missing the last few games, Josh Hazlewood was introduced into the attack in the fourth over. The Aussie pacer has a great record against Shreyas Iyer in the format and was handed the ball by his skipper right when the PBKS skipper made his way to the crease. There was a play and a miss from Iyer on his first ball. Hazlewood improved his record against the PBKS skipper and dismissed him on the fourth ball of the over.
Punjab Kings are at 27/2 after 3 overs. Inglis: 2* (3)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling his second over, was struck for a couple of fours on the trot by Prabhsimran Singh. The right-handed batter struck one over mid-off before going above the mid-on fielder. However, the experience of Bhuvneshwar helped him finally get his man as PBKS lost both of its openers inside three overs.
Punjab Kings are at 18/1 after 2 overs. Prabhsimran: 10* (6), Inglis: 1* (1)
Yash Dayal, after receiving a beating in his previous game against Lucknow Super Giants, has struck in his first over. The left-arm pacer dismissed Priyansh Arya with the first ball he bowled to the left-hander. There were a couple of moments in the over when the RCB fielders saved a certain boundary. Prabshimran Singh ended the over with a six over the fine leg boundary.
Punjab Kings are at 8/0 after 1 over. Priyansh: 7* (4), Prabhsimran: 1* (2)
A cheeky start for Priyansh Arya as he pushed a delivery uppishly to open his account. The left-handed batter was served with some width on the third ball, which he drove to the boundary past Krunal Pandya at backward point.
RCB won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Maharaja Yadavindra Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kyle Jamieson
Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Both Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will have a few changes in their playing XI. PBKS will miss the services of South African pacer Marco Jansen. While they have a replacement in Kyle Jamieson who can make the XI, it is still a downgrade, especially when it comes to bowling in the power play. There will be a freed-up spot in the playing XI which could be taken by Azmatullah Omarzai, who can take up the new ball responsibility and offer some power-hitting with the bat lower down the order.
When it comes to RCB, they will be welcoming Josh Hazlewood back into the playing XI. However, it could result in a giant headache for the team management as they have to make a decision on who to leave out. Phil Salt and Romario Shepherd look indispensable at either end of the batting order. Liam Livingstone, who came back to playing XI in the previous game, was dismissed for a golden duck. Nuwan Thushara, who made his debut for RCB in the last league stage clash, was unarguably the pick among the bowlers across both teams. If Hazlewood indeed comes back in the side, the Jitesh Sharma-led side might need to rejig their playing XI. One of the possibilities to keep both Thushara Hazlewood in the playing XI is to replace Livingstone with an Indian batter and bench Yash Dayal.
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh
Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma (C and wk), Liam Livingstone/Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara/Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
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