New Chandigarh: Spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma bagged two scalps each to restrict Punjab Kings to 157/6 in 20 overs in the IPL 2025 reverse fixture at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
Asked to bat first, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave a flying start to the side after a two-run opening over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The duo came heavily on Yash Dayal as Arya struck him for a six and a four after Prabhsimran welcomed him with a boundary. That over gave momentum to Punjab’s scoreboard with 17 runs off it.
Prabhsimran continued the momentum with three fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s next over. Josh Hazlewood also faced the same treatment from Arya as the opener struck him for two fours. Punjab were having a near-perfect start till Rajat Patidar introduced Krunal Pandya into the attack in the fifth over.
Krunal dismissed Arya for 22 on his second ball of the over and broke the 42-run opening partnership. Captain Shreyas Iyer joined Prabhsimran in the middle and the duo pushed the side to 62/1 at the end of the powerplay with the help of a six and a four off Hazlewood.
However, Krunal’s second over brought another wicket for RCB as he sent Prabhsimran back to the pavilion after scoring 17-ball 33 including five fours and a six.
Josh Inglis came to bat at no. 4 and joined Iyer but the former failed to live up to the occasion and mistimed a shot off Romario Shepherd in the eighth over. Iyer’s subdued performance at the home venue continued as it was his fourth knock this season where he failed to reach beyond 10.
In the next over, last match’s star, Nehal Wadhera fell victim to a mix-up with Livingstone and was runout for 5. Punjab Kings were 79/4 at the halfway mark with Livingstone and Shashank Singh at the crease.
The duo formed a crucial 36-run stand for the fifth wicket before the partnership was broken by Suyash who cleaned up Inglis for 29 before sending back Marcus Stoinis in an identical manner in the same over.
Marco Jansen and Shashank had the task of navigating the last six overs and boosting the scoring rate. RCB bowlers kept the lengths tight as the duo only scored just over run-a-ball to take the side to 157/6 in 20 overs.
Shashank remained unbeaten for 31 while Jansen scored 25 not out with the help of two sixes including one against Hazlewood on the last ball of the innings.
For RCB, Krunal finished with the best figures of 2-25 while Suyash (2-26) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-26) also bowled economically.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 157/6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 33, Shashank Singh 31 not out; Krunal Pandya 2-25, Suyash Sharma 2-26) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
(IANS)
