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If there was a blueprint for Royal Challengers Bengaluru after opting to bowl in IPL’s Qualifier 1, it would have been pretty similar to how things transpired at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium on Thursday.
Almost everything that the RCB bowlers did fell into place as Punjab Kings’ catastrophic explosion with the bat saw it folding up for 101 in 14.1 overs. Josh Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma starred with three scalps each.
With Phil Salt spearheading the chase, the target was knocked off in 10 overs with eight wickets in hand. It takes RCB to a fourth IPL final, in Ahmedabad on June 3, and ignites hope among its fervent fanbase of a long-awaited maiden title. For PBKS, it is not quite the end of the road. It will play Qualifier 2 against the winner of Friday’s Eliminator.
A key factor in Punjab’s run this season has been the spunk shown by openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. But on the big day, neither lasted long enough. After punching Bhuvneshwar Kumar through backward point for four, Priyansh succumbed to an uppish drive off Yash Dayal.
Prabhsimran was looking to assert himself by running down the track and hitting Bhuvneshwar for back-to-back fours. But there’s a fine line between aggression and recklessness. He chanced his luck when he charged at Bhuvneshwar again, only to lose his shape and get caught behind.
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Hazlewood’s introduction brought further joy for RCB. Having missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, the Australian emphasised his importance by removing Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis in successive overs. Shreyas wouldn’t want to watch a replay of his wicket, for it was an ungainly hoick across the line that resulted in an outside edge to Jitesh Sharma.
At the start of the sixth over, Inglis top-edged a pull against his Australian compatriot and found Bhuvneshwar at fine-leg.
Wickets continued to tumble like ninepins as 38 for four became 50 for five, 60 for six and 60 for seven. Nehal Wadhera chopped on a delivery by Dayal while Shashank Singh was cleaned up by Suyash’s googly. The leggie also trapped impact player Musheer Khan leg-before in his opening over. Marcus Stoinis waged a lone battle briefly, getting to 26 off 17 balls, before his stumps were rearranged by another of Suyash’s wrong ’uns.
