Punjab Kings were eliminated from playoffs race in IPL 2024.
PBKS captain Sam Curran won the toss and asked RCB to bat first. RCB struggled as top-order failed with Faf du Plessis (9) and Will Jacks (12) departed early on. However, Virat Kohli shouldered the innings and scored a scorching pace to lay a good foundation for a big score.
He and Rajat Patidar (55 off 23) combined for 76 runs to put the team in charge. Kohli was looking good for another century in the IPL, but was out for 92 runs off 47 balls, hitting seven fours and six sixes to his name.
RCB got a good finish thanks to Cameron Green (46) and Dinesh Karthik (18) helping the side to 241/7 in 20 overs. For PBKS, Harshal Patel took three wickets, while Vidwath Kaverappa returned with two scalps.
In reply, PBKS lost Prabhsimran Singh out for 6 runs early, and then Jonny Bairstow, who made 27 in 16 balls, was outsmarted by a Lockie Ferguson slower ball and was caught by Faf du Plessis.
Rilee Russouw then smacked 61 in 27 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes to give PBKS innings the momentum it needed. But his dangerous knock was ended by Karn Sharma. PBKS then lost the plot with the wickets of Jitesh Sharma (5) and Liam Livingstone (0).
Though Shashank Singh (37) and captain Sam Curran (22) tried their best, RCB bowlers did well to keep PBKS to 181 runs in the end. RCB won the match by 60 runs and now has 10 points from 12 matches and 5 wins and remain alive in the race for the playoffs.
For RCB, Mohammed Siraj took 3/43, while Swapnil Singh, Lockie Ferguson, and Karn Sharma took two wickets each. With this loss, Punjab Kings became the second team after Mumbai Indians, to be knocked out of the race for playoffs.
Virat Kohli was given the Player of the Match for his brilliant knock which helped RCB put in a good total.
The cricket fraternity lauded Virat Kohli for his innings on social media after RCB’s win.
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