Livingstone, Bairstow set up winning total for Punjab

Punjab Kings 209 for 9 (Livingstone 70, Bairstow 66, Patel 4-34) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 155 for 9 (Maxwell 35, Rabada 3-21) by 54 runs.

Mumbai: The Punjab Kings (PBKS) bounced back with a victory in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 54 runs on Friday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Whirlwind knocks from Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone guided PBKS to a mammoth total of 209 before they registered a comprehensive 54-run victory.     

Chasing 210 to win, RCB openers – Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis responded strongly at the top. Kohli added two fours and a six and RCB were 31/0 after 3 overs.

Rabada claimed the first wicket after Kohli was caught at short fine leg. Faf du Plessis was out in the next over after the RCB skipper was caught behind off Rishi Dhawan.

RCB were 44/3 at the end of the powerplay after Mahipal Lomror was caught inside the circle.

Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar led RCB’s recovery and stitched a valuable partnership. While Maxwell produced runs with his trademark switch hit, Patidar smacked two sixes.

The fifty partnership was up for the duo and RCB were 95/3 at the halfway stage. Rahul Chahar put an end to the partnership after Patidar holed out to long-on.

RCB lost half their side after Harpreet Brar dismissed Maxwell for 35. Dinesh Karthik was the next batter to depart as Arshdeep claimed his first wicket and RCB required 90 runs off the final five overs.

Rabada brought an end to Shahbaz Ahmed’s stay at the crease while Harpreet Brar took a sharp catch in the outfield off Chahar’s bowling to dismiss Hasaranga.

RCB fell 55 runs short of the target after Rabada claimed his third wicket to dismiss Harshal Patel in the penultimate over.

Earlier, PBKS, who were put in to bat first, made one change – Harpreet Brar replaced Sandeep Sharma in the eleven.

22 runs came off the second over after Jonny Bairstow crunched two sixes and as many fours. The fifty partnership was up for the opening wicket after Shikhar Dhawan clubbed two fours and a six at the other end.

Maxwell castled Dhawan, who was dismissed for 21 before Bairstow hammered two sixes in the final over and notched his half-century.

Wanindu Hasaranga scalped the second wicket for RCB after Rajapaksa was caught at short third man. The hundred was up for PBKS in the 9th over before Shahbaz Ahmed put an end to Bairstow’s innings after the opener was caught by Siraj in the 10th over.

Liam Livingstone, who was joined by skipper Mayank Agarwal, carried on the batting explosion by hammering 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Harshal Patel put an end to the fifty-run stand after Agarwal was caught inside the circle. PBKS were 163-4 at the end of 16 overs before Hasaranga scalped his second wicket by bamboozling Jitesh Sharma.

Harpreet Brar smacked a six before the left-handed batter was caught behind off Harshal Patel. Livingstone reached his half-century with a four and the 200 was up for PBKS.

The penultimate over produced 24 runs after Livingstone clubbed two sixes and as many fours. The all-rounder was dismissed in the final over off Harshal Patel, who conceded only four runs as PBKS posted 209/9 in the first innings.