Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a setback as they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 24 runs in their sixth match of the ongoing TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, on Thursday, April 20.

The visitors rode on impact player Faf du Plessis’ 84 off 56 and Virat Kohli’s 47-ball 59 to post 174/4. In reply, Prabhsimran Singh (46) and Jitesh Sharma (41) played impressive cameos before the Kings were bowled out for 150 in 18.2 overs.

Coin In PBKS Favour

PBKS captain Sam Curran won the toss and opted to field first. The hosts made two changes, bringing in Liam Livingstone and Nathan Ellis replacing Sikandar Raza and Kagiso Rabada.

Virat Kohli led RCB as Faf du Plessis struggled with an injury.

Visitors Off To A Flying Start

Kohli and du Plessis got off to a great start as the visitors crossed fifty in 5.1 overs. The Protean soon brought up his 29th IPL fifty off 31 balls.

The openers continued to play sensibly as RCB reached a hundred in 11.4 overs.

Meanwhile, PBKS star leg-spinner, Rahul Chahar bowled an impressive spell as he conceded just 24 runs in his quota of four overs.

PBKS Bowlers Make A Comeback

Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar broke the 137-run opening stand as he dismissed Kohli (59) courtesy of a brilliant catch taken by the wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma.

On the next ball, Brar bagged the wicket of Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck. Interestingly, this was the third time Brar claimed the wicket of Maxwell in the TATA IPL campaign.

The Kings continued to pick up wickets regularly. Nathan Ellis bagged the crucial wicket of du Plessis (84). In the 19th over, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh joined the party as he removed RCB wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik (7).

Onto The Chase

The Kings brought in Prabhsimran Singh as their impact player instead of Chahar.

Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran opened the innings. Atharva smashed the first ball for a boundary before he was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj.

Matthew Short walked out to bat at no.3. The Australian clobbered Wayne Parnell for a monster six over fine leg. But Short (8) was cleaned up by Wanindu Hasaranga.

The Kings lost their third wicket as Siraj trapped Livingstone (2) in front of the stumps.

Harpreet Singh, the southpaw, slammed boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving. But In the sixth over, the Kings succumbed to another blow as Harpreet (13) was dismissed due to an unfortunate run-out.

With PBKS struggling at 43/4, skipper Sam Curran joined Prabhsimran at the crease.

Prabhsimran Gave Hope To PBKS

Prabhsimran smashed Hasaranga for two maximums to accumulate 14 runs in the ninth over.

Our skipper upped the ante as he hit Vijaykumar Vyshak for a four through extra cover. But RCB successfully bagged their fifth wicket as Curran was short of the crease on the bowlers’ end.

Accelerating after 76/5, Jitesh and Prabhsimran slammed multiple boundaries to keep PBKS in the hunt.

However, Prabhsimran was later cleaned up by Parnell for a well-made 46 off just 30 balls.

With 78 runs needed off 51 balls, Shahrukh Khan joined Jitesh in the middle.

Shahrukh quickly got off the mark by hitting Parnell for a huge maximum. But he (7) was dismissed by Hasaranga in the 13th over.

Fightback by Jitesh

In desperate need of holding wickets, Harpreet Brar and Jitesh stitched a pacey partnership.

In the 16th over, Jitesh slammed Vyshak for a boundary and clobbered him for aN 83-metre six to amass 13 runs. PBKS still needed 37 runs in the last four overs.

Unfortunately, Siraj ended the 41-run stand as he dismissed Brar for run-a-ball 13. The RCB pacer also cleaned up Ellis with PBKS still needing 26 runs off 12 balls.

Harshal Patel bagged the final wicket of Jitesh as the visitors registered a 24-run victory.

With three wins and as many losses, Punjab Kings are currently placed seventh in the TATA IPL 2023 standings with six points.

The Kings will aim to quickly bounce back against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, April 22.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 174/4 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 84, Virat Kohli 59; Harpreet Brar 2/31) beat Punjab Kings 150/10 in 18.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 46, Jitesh Sharma 41; Mohammed Siraj 4/21) by 24 runs.


Player of the Match: Mohammed Siraj.