Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) advanced to their first Indian Premier League (IPL) final since 2016, defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 at New Chandigarh. After being put to bat first, the home team was bundled out for 101 runs.
RCB’s decision to bowl first paid off handsomely as their bowlers, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, and Suyash Sharma, ripped through PBKS’ top and middle orders.
Punjab lost four wickets during the powerplay, and the other six had to walk back. PBKS’ score of 101 was the joint lowest in IPL playoff history, matching Lucknow Super Giants’ total from IPL 2023.
Despite the movement and bounce that made hitting difficult, the RCB batter made the pursuit appear easy. Salt hit an undefeated 56 off just 27 balls, and with Rajat Patidar concluding with a slog-sweep six, RCB reached the goal with 60 balls remaining, the largest margin in playoff chases. Following the humiliating setback, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer was candid in his post-match evaluation. Reflecting on what went wrong, he acknowledged the batting unit’s poor performance on the pitch.
“It was a memorable day, but we needed to start over. We lost many wickets (in the first innings). There is a lot to go back and study on. To be honest, I don’t doubt my decisions. Whatever we did in terms of strategy, both on and off the pitch, I believe was effective. “We just couldn’t execute it on the pitch,” Iyer explained in the post-match interview.
Meanwhile, Iyer stated that protecting such a low score was always difficult, especially against a quality batting lineup. He also mentioned that his team needs to be more adaptive, given the bounce on the pitch.
“I can’t fault the bowlers because it was a modest total to defend. We need to work on our batting, especially on this wicket. In all of the games we’ve played here, the bounce has been varied. We can’t give such explanations because, at the end of the day, we’re professionals who have to bat based on the situation and live up to expectations. “We lost the battle, but not the war,” he said.
Hazlewood and Suyash each took three wickets, while Dayal added two. Despite losing Virat Kohli early on, Salt dragged the game away from Punjab. While RCB will play in the final, Punjab will face the winners of the Eliminator game (Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians) on June 1.
India
