Punjab Kings Thump Royal Challengers Bangalore To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

A dominating performance helped Punjab Kings hand a thumping 54-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in match 60 of the IPL 2022 played at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. With this win, Punjab have kept themselves alive in the race to playoffs. 

Chasing a mammoth total of 210, RCB began well Virat Kohli quickly added 20 runs in 14 balls. Bangalore were 31/0 in three overs but Kagiso Rabada got Kohli out and then Rishi Dhawan removed Faf du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror in the fifth over as RCB finished the powerplay at 44/3. 

Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar added 64 runs in 37 balls for the fourth wicket to keep RCB in the hunt. Rahul Chahar got Patidar (26 off 21 balls) out in the 11th over and Harpreet Brar got Maxwell (35 off 22 balls) out in the next over. 

Bangalore couldn't really recover after losing five wickets in the chase of 200 plus target and even Dinesh Karthik got out in the 15th over to completely crush the hopes of the run chase. 

Kagiso Rabada finished with 3/21 while Rishi Dhawan and Rahul Chahar got two wickets each as RCB finished at 155/9 in the 20 overs, falling short of the target by 54 runs. 

Earlier, Punjab Kings were off to a rollicking start as they smacked 83 runs inside the powerplay despite losing the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan for 21 runs. Jonny Bairstow was hitting the ball hard and scored 66 runs in just 29 balls with the help of four fours and seven sixes. 

Liam Livingstone continued from where Bairstow left and smacked 70 runs in 42 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes as Punjab finished at 209/9 in the first inning. 

Harshal Patel picked up four wickets in his four overs while Wanindu Hasaranga completed his four-over spell with the figures of 4/15. Contrastingly, Josh Hazlewood had the worst game of his career as he conceded 64 runs in his four overs without picking a wicket. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Also Read: IPL 2022 - Scorecard

Punjab Kings - 209/9 (Liam Livingstone - 70, Jonny Bairstow - 66)
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 155/9 (Glenn Maxwell - 35; Kagiso Rabada - 3/21)