It was a good day at Sharjah as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 48th match of the IPL 2021 by 6 runs and also qualified for the playoffs sealing their spot in the final four in the process.
Virat Kohli had won the toss in a day-match at Sharjah and chose to bat first. While RCB went in unchanged, PBKs made three changes- Fabian Allen, Deepak Hooda, Nathan Ellis were replaced by Harpreet Brar, Sarfaraz Khan, and Moises Henriques.
IPL 2021: Pietersen disheartened to see relations between David Warner and SRH unraveling
Glenn Maxwell top-scored with 57 in 33 runs with 4 sixes and 3 fours while Devdutt Padikkal (40), Virat Kohli (25), and AB de Villiers (23) contributed to the final RCB total of 164/7 which was beyond the par score at the venue in the IPL 2021. Mohammad Shami (3/39) and Moises Henriques (3/12) were the picks of PBKS bowling.
In reply, KL Rahul (39) and Mayank Agarwal (57) added 91 runs for the first wicket. But the wicket of KL Rahul opened the floodgates as RCB tightened the screws in the PBKS chase. Aiden Markram struggled for 20, while Shahrukh Khan made 16*, but PBKS lost the momentum as they managed just 158/6 in 20 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal led with the ball with 3/29 as RCB won the match by 6 runs and sealed their playoffs spot. PBKS will now have the anxious wait for other teams’ results and need to win their last league match as well.
The Cricket fraternity was all praises for Virat Kohli and co. and lauded them for qualifying for the playoffs.
Here are the tweets:
