Punjab Kings (PBKS) left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and skipper, KL Rahul pulled off brilliant performances, as they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 34 runs in Ahmedabad on Friday. Brar got the premier wickets of Virat Kohli (35), Glenn Maxwell (0), and AB de Villiers (3) while Rahul played captain’s knock of 57-ball 91*. Brar (25* off 17) and Rahul also partnered for an unbeaten 61-run partnership off 32 balls to help their team post a competitive score of 179/5.
During the chase of 180 runs, RCB witnessed a slow start, after being hit for an aggressive boundary on the first ball, Mohammed Shami came back strongly against Virat Kohli. In fact, Padikkal smashed Rile Meredith for six, but the bowler replied in style by uprooting his off-stump.
Rajat Patidar walked in at three as Shami, Meredith, Ravi Bishnoi, and Harpreet Brar managed to bowl some tight overs. Apart from the occasional boundaries from Kohli, runs had started drying up. t the end of 10 overs, Bangalore was 62/1. Brar came out to bowl the 11th over and castled Kohli on the first ball and inflicted further damage by knocking off Glenn Maxwell on a golden duck. In his next over, Harpreet Brar also got the wicket of AB de Villiers, who gave a catch to KL Rahul at extra cover.
WATCH – Harpreet Brar Shocked RCB By Dismissing Famous ‘Trio’
The Moga-born’s first three wickets in IPL were– Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and AB de Villiers!! He ended the match there and then itself. Later, Patidar, in his quest to revive RCB’s damaged hopes, was outdone by Chris Jordan as he played a struggling knock of 30-ball 31. Ravi Bishnoi also joined the party and got Shahbaz Ahmed and Daniel Sams in the 16th over. Harshal Patel (31 off 13) fired towards the end for RCB but eventually, PBKS sealed the game by a huge margin of 34 runs.
After being asked to bat first KL Rahul’s new opening partner, Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed in the 4th over by, Kyle Jamieson, who was smashed a for five 4s by Chris Gayle in the 6th over, which helped Punjab to reach the score of 49/1 in Powerplay. Yuzvendra Chahal was smashed for the cleaners by Gayle (24-ball 46), before being dismissed by Daniel Sams in the 11th over.
Nicholas Pooran and Shahrukh Khan departed for a duck as they were dismissed by Shahbaz Nadeem and Chahal respectively. Harpreet Brar broke the deadlock and hit a boundary for Punjab after a gap of six overs. He smashed a four and a six on the 2nd and 3rd ball of the 18th over fromHarshal Patel. Rahul also managed to get a four in the same over.
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Mohammed Siraj bowled a brilliant 19th over, giving away just 7 runs. Kl Rahul, batting on 76 at the start of the over, hit a four before pumping a six and hitting another four to race to 91 off 57 in the final over. He was reluctant to give strike to his batting partner on the final delivery but Harpreet ended his good cameo with a six over square leg boundary. Harshal Patel went wicketless after conceding 53 runs as Punjab managed 179/5 in 20 overs.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to RCB’s loss:
Something tells me tonight's going to be Jordan's night unless the king does something out of the box! #PBKSvsRCB
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 30, 2021
The insensitive FAN WALL is still mocking at us at @IPL Someone at @bcci should step in to scrap this rubbish Wall….
— Vijay Lokapally 🇮🇳 (@vijaylokapally) April 30, 2021
Defeats are always bound to happen even for top sides in a tournament like IPL but you have to bare in mind the margin of defeats. NRR comes into play as the tournament goes on. RCB will have to be vary of that #PBKSvRCB
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 30, 2021
Balle tere braraaaaaaaaaaaa.. Sadke tere shera @thisisbrar @PunjabKingsIPL @IPL pic.twitter.com/Uuk2j2MEPc
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 30, 2021
Hardwork pays! ऊपर वाला जब देता है तो छप्पर फाड़ के देता है| Well done #HarpreetBrar 👏🏼👏🏼 #PBKSvRCB #IPL2021
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) April 30, 2021
What an inspired selection of @thisisbrar for @PunjabKingsIPL Wow!! 🤸🏽💥🕺#IPL2021
— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) April 30, 2021
.@klrahul11 – एकटा जीव सदाशिव
What an innings! 👌🏻#PBKSvRCB— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) April 30, 2021
It was #HarpreetBrar's day. With bat a fine innings but what a bowling analysis of 4 overs which has three of the best Kohli, Maxwell and ABD. Dream day, young man .
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 30, 2021
The @IPL showcases another star! Harpreet Brar takes “The Big Three” @imVkohli @Gmaxi_32 @ABdeVilliers17 and @PunjabKingsIPL take the spoils v @RCBTweets #IPL
— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) April 30, 2021
Want Maxwell and Kumble hugging picture. #PBKSvRCB
— Manya (@CSKian716) April 30, 2021
