NEW CHANDIGARH — Half-centuries
from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
to a seven-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 clash at the Maharaja
Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
In a reverse fixture, RCB avenged their five-wicket loss
against Punjab Kings at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium two days back.
After the spirited effort from RCB's bowlers, Kohli and
Padikkal led the chase after Phil Salt was dismissed cheaply for 1 by Arshdeep
Singh in the first over. Padikkal and Kohli played fluently and pushed the
score to 42 after the end of six overs.
Kohli kept on scoring boundaries at regular intervals while
Padikkal was aiming for maximums whenever he got the opportunity. The duo
racked up 88 at the halfway mark as Padikkal completed his half-century in 30
balls. He hammered Marcus Stoinis for a six and a four on successive balls to
take the total past three-figure mark in the 12th over.
Harpreet Brar finally got rid of Padikkal, who scored
35-ball 61 including four sixes and five fours, in the 13th over.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar came in to bat at No. 4 as Kohli
completed his third fifty of the season in 43 balls to surpass David Warner's
tally of most 50-plus scores in IPL. It was Kohli's 59th half-century in the
tournament other than his eight centuries.
Chahal brought an end to Patidar's (12) brief stay at the
crease in the 17th over but it was too late for Punjab to inflict a batting
collapse on RCB.
Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma stormed six off Nehal
Wadhera to hit the winning runs for the side. Kohli remained unbeaten 73
studded with seven fours and a six while Jitesh scored 11 not out as RCB
reached the target with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma bagged two
scalps each to restrict Punjab Kings to 157/6 in 20 overs.
Asked to bat first, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave
a flying start to the side after a two-run opening over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The duo came heavily on Yash Dayal as Arya struck him for a
six and a four after Prabhsimran welcomed him with a boundary. That over gave
momentum to Punjab's scoreboard with 17 runs off it.
Prabhsimran continued the momentum with three fours off
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's next over. Josh Hazlewood also faced the same treatment
from Arya as the opener struck him for two fours. Punjab were having a
near-perfect start till Rajat Patidar introduced Krunal Pandya into the attack
in the fifth over.
Krunal dismissed Arya for 22 on his second ball of the over
and broke the 42-run opening partnership. Captain Shreyas Iyer joined
Prabhsimran in the middle and the duo pushed the side to 62/1 at the end of the
powerplay with the help of a six and a four off Hazlewood.
However, Krunal's second over brought another wicket for RCB
as he sent Prabhsimran back to the pavilion after scoring 17-ball 33 including
five fours and a six.
Josh Inglis came to bat at no. 4 and joined Iyer but the
latter failed to live up to the occasion and mistimed a shot off Romario
Shepherd in the eighth over. Iyer's subdued performance at home venue continued
as it was his fourth knock this season where he failed to reach beyond 10.
In the next over, last match's star, Nehal Wadhera fell
victim to a mix-up with Livingstone and was dismissed for 5. Punjab Kings were
79/4 at the halfway mark with Livingstone and Shashank Singh at the crease.
The duo formed a crucial 36-run stand for the fifth wicket
before the partnership was broken by Suyash Sharma who cleaned up Inglis for 29
before sending back Marcus Stoinis in an identical manner in the same over.
Marco Jansen and Shashank had the task of navigating the
last six overs and boosting the scoring rate. RCB bowlers kept the lengths
tight as the duo only scored just over run-a-ball to take the side to 157/6 in
20 overs.
Shashank remained unbeaten for 31 while Jansen scored 25 not
out with the help of two sixes including one against Hazlewood on the last ball
of the innings.
For RCB, Krunal finished with the best figures of 2-25 while
Suyash (2-26) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-26) also bowled economically.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 157/6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran
Singh 33, Shashank Singh 31 not out; Krunal Pandya 2-25, Suyash Sharma 2-26)
lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 159/3 in 18.3 overs (Virat Kohli 73 not
out, Devdutt Padikkal 61; Harpreet Brar 1-27, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-36) by seven
wickets.
