Punjab Kings (PBKS) faced Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 26th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday (April 30).
Invited to bat first, PBKS posted 179/5 in 20 overs on the back of skipper KL Rahul’s unbeaten 91 off 57 deliveries, including 7 fours and 5 sixes. Chris Gayle (46 off 24 balls) and Harpreet Brar (25* off 17 balls) also made significant contributions with the bat.
Daniel Sams was the stand-out bowler for RCB as he claimed the prized scalp of rampaging Gayle and conceded only 24 runs in his four overs.
Defending the total, Punjab restricted Bangalore to 145/8. Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar (3-19) and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (2-17) wreaked havoc on the RCB batting line-up, taking 5 wickets between them.
In particular, Harpreet was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, dismissing the dynamic trio of Virat Kohli (35), Glenn Maxwell (0) and AB de Villiers (3). On the other hand, Bishnoi removed Shahbaz Ahmed and Daniel Sams.
It was a listless batting performance from RCB as six of them were dismissed for a single-digit score while none of them managed to touch the 40-run mark.
Cricket fraternity lauded Harpreet Brar for picking up the wickets of RCB’s big guns in PBKS’ thumping 34-run victory.
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