RCB beat Punjab Kings by six runs in crucial IPL clash, reach playoffs

After posting 164 runs for the loss of seven wickets, the Royal Challengers bowlers restricted Punjab to 158 runs for six wickets.

Moises Henriques (12*) and  Harpreet Brar (3*) remained unbeaten till the end but could not manage to clinch the match which would have decided their future to move to the next round of the tournament.

Mayank Agarwal  remained the topscorer for Punjab with his 57.

He hammered six boundaries and two sixes in the match.

Skipper KL Rahul added 39 runs.

A blazing fifty from Glenn Maxwell helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to set a target of 165 against Punjab Kings in match 48 of IPL 2021 here on Sunday.

Maxwell fired a 33-ball 57 after Devdutt Paddikal's 40 firework-filled 40 runs (38 balls) set the tone early for RCB to post 164/7 in 20 overs. Mohammed Shami and Moises Henriques took three wickets each to stop RCB batters from doing further damage.

Opting to bat first, RCB were on the top of their game with openers Devdutt Paddikal and Virat Kohli dealt in boundaries to hammer 56 runs during the powerplays. Paddikal did most of the damage to PBKS bowlers with 34 runs, including 26 runs in two overs by Arshdeep Singh.

The run-rate dramatically fell after the powerplays with the next three overs yielding just 12 runs with slow bowlers Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi halting the run flow effectively.

However, it was medium-pacer Moises Henriques, who provided RCB with the breakthrough with two consecutive wickets of Kohli (25 off 24) and Daniel Christian (0) in the 10th over to leave RCB reeling at 68/2.

Henrique wasn't done yet as he came back in the 12th over to dismiss Paddikal for 40 (38).

This turn out to be just a blip in RCB innings with Glenn Maxwell taking charge of scoring with AB de Villiers at the other end.

Bishnoi and Shami felt the heat of Maxwell's power soon as he hammered three sixes and a four to take RCB past 130 runs by the end of the 17th over.

Maxwell reached his fifty in just 29 deliveries in the 18th over, smashing three boundaries and as many sixes.

Both De Villiers (23 off 18) and Maxwell (57 off 33) fell one after another in the 19th and 20th over respectively but did enough damage to allow RCB to post 166/5 in 20 overs.

Shami, however, swung the momentum back in RCB's favour with three wickets in the last over -- including the wicket of Maxwell -- while giving away just eight runs. His other two victims were Shahbaz Ahmed (8 off 4) and George Garton (0).