Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinch IPL playoffs spot with 23-run win over Punjab Kings

Royal Challengers Bengaluru sealed their IPL playoffs berth with a 23-run victory over Punjab Kings in Dharamsala. Venkatesh Iyer’s unbeaten 73 and Kohli’s fluent 58 powered RCB to 222, while disciplined bowling thwarted PBKS despite Shashank Singh’s valiant 56

Dharamsala: Royal Challengers Bengaluru held their nerve and survived a late onslaught to edge out Punjab Kings by 23 runs to become the first team to secure an IPL playoffs berth with an all-round performance here on Sunday.

Venkatesh Iyer blasted a spectacular 40-ball 73 not out and powered RCB to 222 for four. Virat Kohli (58 off 37 balls), Devdutt Padikkal (45 off 25 balls) and Tim David (28 off 12) were the other significant contributors for RCB after they were asked to bat first.

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In reply, PBKS were stopped at 199 for eight after Shashank Singh’s valiant 56 off 27 balls, the home team suffering its sixth consecutive defeat after a great start to the season.

In a daunting chase of 223, Punjab Kings endured a nervy start as RCB’s pace attack kept the batters under pressure in the first 10 overs.

PBKS were jolted early when veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Priyansh Arya in the opening over, forcing the hosts on to the back foot immediately.

With the required rate hovering around 11-an-over from the outset, Punjab’s batters were compelled to attack but RCB’s disciplined bowling and sharp fielding denied the home side the momentum they were looking for.

Cooper Connolly and Prabhsimran Singh looked to counterattack with a few boundaries, but the visitors continued to chip away with timely breakthroughs.

Prabhsimran threw his bat at a Bhuvneshwar delivery way outside off and the edge flew to Devdutt in the slips. Skipper Shreyas Iyer too bit the dust inside the Power Play.

After reaching 35 off 22 balls, Suryansh Shedge hit an innocuous Suyash Sharma delivery to long-off, where Kohli completed a neat, flat catch.

However, Shashank kept up the fight with his bold hits, including three sixes in one over against Suyash, even as Jacob Bethell dropped Marcus Stoinis on 22, who too found the boundaries at will to keep PKBS in the hunt.

But Josh Hazlewood returned to dismiss Stoinis (37 off 25) with a full toss which the batter failed to put away.

Shashank continued to battle for PBKS as Bhuvneshwar, who gave away just eight runs in his first spell, leaked 30 runs in his last two overs.

However, Shashank’s innings came to an end in the final over in which PBKS needed 33 runs.

Earlier, in a game that PBKS needed to win to keep their playoff qualification hopes alive, Venkatesh hogged the limelight with his scintillating innings after Kohli and Devdutt did the initial groundwork with an authoritative 76-run partnership for the second wicket.

After losing Jacob Bethell early to Harpreet Brar, RCB recovered strongly through Kohli and Ðevdutt, who kept the scoreboard ticking with a flurry of boundaries and smart rotation of strike on a batting-friendly surface.

Kohli looked in sublime touch, using the pace of Arshdeep Singh and Lockie Ferguson effectively, while Devdutt counterattacked against both pace and spin to ensure that Punjab’s bowlers never settled into any sort of rhythm.

Kohli’s trademark wristy flicks and Devdutt’s lofted hits kept the run-rate above 10 an over through the first half of the innings.

At 101 for two, RCB were well placed at the halfway stage of their innings with Kohli holding one end firmly and Venkatesh joining the talisman after Ðevdutt’s dismissal.

Kohli, who reached his 67th IPL half-century in 31 balls, was caught out in the deep after failing to get elevation against Yuzvendra Chahal (1/42), who leaked 21 runs in his opening over.

Venkatesh, who batted aggressively through the middle overs to tighten their grip on the contest, smashed Lockie Ferguson for sixes over long-off and long-on to take RCB to 187 for three in 17 overs.

Taking the attacking route against both pace and spin, Venkatesh peppered the HPCA ground with boundaries, while the burly Tim David too attacked from the word go in his trademark style.

Punjab managed to slow the run flow marginally after the strategic timeout, but RCB remained in command heading into the death overs with plenty of wickets in hand.