Shahrukh Khan slammed Harshal Patel for a boundary down the ground to seal the first win for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022. Mayank Agarwal and company defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets at the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai.
Punjab scored 63 runs in the last five overs to pip Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 205-run total with an over to spare. Contributions came from almost everywhere. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal laid a 71-run platform in seven overs. Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored a quickfire 43 off 22 balls. Liam Livingstone made 19 in 10. However, just when the win seemed impossible, Shahrukh Khan (24 in 20 balls) and Odean Smith (25 runs in 8 balls) stepped up to finish the game for Punjab.
West Indies’ Smith smacked the RCB bowlers for three sixes and one four. Khan hit one boundary and two maximums.
Wickets kept falling at regular intervals but the Punjab batsmen kept going on with a positive mindset. RCB helped their rivals by bowling 22 extras, dropping two key catches and missing one run out.
Captaining RCB for the first time, Faf du Plessis said that the dropped catches hurt.
Also read: IPL 2022: Battle of the Pandyas in focus as Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans lock horns
“I think the batting as really good. The catches towards the end.. Odean Smith 25 off off 8 balls.. I think we probably dropped him on 10. After that we are looking at some tailenders coming in. The cliche of catches win watches,” he said after the match.
In the first innings, Faf du Plessis top-scored with 88 runs. He and Virat Kohli (41 off 29 balls) stitched a 118-run stand to take the Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205 runs. Dinesh Karthik finished the innings for the side with a quickfire 32 off 14 balls.
Also read: Captains at work: Du Plessis, Kohli lead RCB’s charge vs Punjab Kings
“There was a bit of dew out there, tough night for the bowlers, but I thought they were pretty decent with the wet ball. Small margins, but they chased it down really well. They had a really good powerplay. The ball skidded on a bit more in the second innings and then we pulled it back beautifully,” Du Plessis further added.
For RCB, Mohammed Siraj, who went for nearly 15 runs an over, picked two wickets. Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga and Akash Deep got one each.
