Kohli sets RCB on way to win over Punjab Kings

Indian maestro Virat Kohli struck a dazzling half-century to set the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on their way to an exciting final over four-wicket win over the Punjab Kings in their Tata Indian Premier League match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday night.

Kohli crunched 11 fours and two sixes on his way to a 49-ball 77, before Dinesh Karthik, 28no off 10 (3x4, 2x6) and impact player Mahipal Lomror, 17no off eight (2x4, 1x6) produced the finishing touches at the end to power them over the line.

Harpreet Brar, 2-13, and Kagiso Rabada, 2-23, tried their best to keep Punjab in the game, but without much help from the rest of the bowling attack, they were unable to defend the target.

At the start of play, RCB won the toss and chose to bowl, with Punjab managing a par 176 for six in their 20 overs, but it proved just short as the hosts chased down the score with four balls to spare.

The RCB chase got off to an exciting start as Sam Curran found the edge of Kohli’s bat off the second delivery, only for the ball to burst through the hands of first slip Johnny Bairstow and run away for four.

Kohli immediately showed just how costly that drop would be as he pumped Curran for three more boundaries in the over as 16 came off it.

While Kohli was hammering boundaries at one end, Rabada was taking wickets at the other as he had his former national captain Faf du Plessis (3) caught by Curran at mid-on and Cameron Green (3) edging to keeper Jitesh Sharma, leaving them on 43 for two in the fifth over.

Kohli found a willing partner in Rajat Patidar, who struck a run-a-ball 18, as they shared in a 43-run third-wicket stand, with Kohli making his way to a 31-ball half-century along the way, but just as the game looked to be shifting in RCB’s favour, Brar came into the attack to change the game.

He bowled both Patidar and Glenn Maxwell (3) in successive overs as RCB slipped to 103 for four at the start of the 13^th over.

The massive wicket of Kohli came a few overs later when he sent the ball straight to Brar at wide third man off the bowling of Harshal Patel, and he was followed two balls later by Anuj Rawat (11), trapped LBW by Curran in the 17^th over, with them in trouble on 130 for six.

But Karthik and Lomror made it look easy as they thumped an unbeaten 48-run partnership off just 18 balls to smash RCB to their first win of the competition.

POSITIVE DHAWAN KNOCK

Earlier in the Punjab innings, Shikhar Dhawan struck 45 off 37 balls (5x4, 1x6) at the top of the order, while an entertaining cameo from Shashank Singh, 21no off eight (1x4, 2x6) at the back end helped boost them to a decent score.

Mohammed Siraj, 2-26, and Glenn Maxwell, 2-29, were the pick of the RCB bowlers, while the Punjab batsmen will be disappointed with some of their shot selections as all six wickets to fall were caught going for big shots.

The Punjab innings got off to a rocky start when Johnny Bairstow (8), who had just hit Mohammed Siraj for back-to-back boundaries at the start of the third over, went for another big shot off the third ball, only to sky it for Virat Kohli to take an easy catch with the score 17 for one.

Prabhsimran Singh, 25 off 17 (2x4, 2x6) joined Dhawan at the crease and they set about a 65-run second-wicket stand, as they finished the powerplay on 40 for one.

Just as Singh and Dhawan were looking to get a move on, with both batters depositing the ball into the stands in previous overs, having just launched Glenn Maxwell for a six, Singh went for another big shot the next ball, only to top edge it for keeper Anuj Rawat to take an easy catch. That left them on 72 for two in the ninth over.

Liam Livingstone (17) was the next man in, but with 26 having been added to the total, Livingstone flashed at a wide delivery from Alzarri Joseph, only to get a thick edge to the keeper, while Dhawan hit Maxwell straight to Kohli at long-on off the next ball as they slipped to 98 for four at the start of the 13^th over.

Sam Curran, 23 off 17 (3x4) and Jitesh Sharma, 27 off 20 (1x4, 2x6) then combined for a 52-run fifth-wicket partnership as they took their side past the hundred-run mark and onto 150 when Curran edged a ball from Yash Dayal, with Rawat taking a superb one-handed grab behind the stumps.

Sharma followed five balls later, skying Siraj for Rawat to complete his fourth catch of the innings, leaving them on 154 for six in the 19^th over.

Shashank then took aim at the last over from Joseph, as he launched two sixes and a four, with 20 runs coming off the final six balls to boost the Punjab total at the end.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wkt), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj

PUNJAB KINGS: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Shashank Singh