In the third match of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by five wickets.
Mayank Agarwal won the toss and opted to field first. The pitch and conditions didn’t favour the bowlers but PBKS did manage to keep things tidy. They couldn’t hold down the RCB batters for a long time and received the hammering at the back end of the innings. After the first innings, the Punjab-based team had a competitive target of 206 in front of them.
Agarwal walked out for the chase along with the dynamic Shikhar Dhawan. The two IPL veterans counter attacked the RCB bowlers and stitched an opening partnership of 71 in seven overs. The threatening partnership was broken by Wanindu Hasaranga in the eighth over. Dhawan still looked good at the other end and gathered more 47 runs for the second wicket partnership with Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan left-handed batsman didn’t take much time to settle in before he started clearing the boundaries with the least effort. Dhawan fell prey to Harshal Patel when the opener hit the ball straight to the fielder at covers inside the circle. The game took a drastic turn when Mohammed Siraj got Rajapaksa and Raj Bawa in two consecutive deliveries. Shahrukh Khan and Oden Smith were the two new batsmen at the crease. With 36 needed off the last three, Smith smashed three brutal sixes off the Siraj over and gathered 25 runs to get the team closer to the total. Almost a dozen runs were required off the last two overs, Khan finished the chase with two boundaries to Patel.
The Bangalore skipper, Faf du Plessis who was playing his first for the franchise was the star with the bat for his team. Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik contributed some crucial runs throughout the innings.
Rahul Chahar was the pick among the bowlers for PBKS for his one wicket and 22 runs in four overs. Arshdeep Singh also got one wicket to his name.
For RCB, Siraj pocketed two scalps while Akash Deep, Wanindu Hasaranga and Patel had one wicket each.
Punjab commenced their IPL 2022 journey on a brighter note and also earned two important points. Smith was adjudged Man of the Match for his unbeaten 25 off eight balls with three maximums and one boundary.
Scorecard:
RCB – 205/2, Overs 20, Faf du Plessis 88, Arsheep Singh 1/31
PBKS – 208/5, Overs 19, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 43, Mohammed Siraj 2/59