“Ruined RCB’s chance”-Punjab Kings playoffs hope alive as they pack RCB with Rabada and English power-hitting

“Ruined RCB’s chance”-Punjab Kings playoffs hope alive as they pack RCB with Rabada and English power-hitting

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings snatches a comprehensive 54-run victory against the RCB after thriving on the two English batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone on Friday, May 13 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Jonny Bairstow did the early damage with his 21-ball half-century with seven sixes in the powerplay. Livingstone had produced fireworks towards the end with his 70 runs off 42 balls. RCB’s Harshal Patel’s 4-wicket-haul definitely had gone vain after losing the match.

From Royal Challengers’ side, only Glenn Maxwell could score 35, also the highest from their side. It seems at first as if Virat Kohli’s form had returned after his wicket 20 off 14 with 2 fours and a six. But it was the same old story at the end.

Check Twitter’s reactions:

https://twitter.com/KaajalMaan/status/1525174687805755392
https://twitter.com/DevaRohani/status/1525177454931111936
https://twitter.com/NucleusDevi/status/1525184136519905281
https://twitter.com/manish_737/status/1525174938168008704
https://twitter.com/JalandhraRajeev/status/1525174746291261444

Also Read | WATCH: Disappointed Virat Kohli looks towards sky, gets emotional after failure in RCB vs PBKS

Virat Kohli is seeing the lighter side of it, says RCB skipper Faf du Plessis

RCB
Faf du Plessis

“It was a good score, obviously Jonny the way he started put our bowlers under really pressure. I thought we pulled it back a bit. 200 was about par on that wicket, was a brilliant wicket. When you’re chasing scores like that, you can’t afford to lose wickets in clusters and unfortunately, that’s what happened to us.”

“He (Kohli) is seeing the lighter side of it, every single way that you can possibly get out, is happening to him. That’s how the game works.”

“All you can do is to keep trying hard, work hard and stay positive. He played some good shots tonight, obviously would want him to carry on. Bad patches happen to all of us, he’s taken it in the right note. Not a great outing for us tonight. Will take a day off and then see how we can switch on for a game that’s a must-win one for us. One more net session isn’t going to make you a better player, it’s about making yourselves stronger in the mind. If we play to our potential, we are a very strong side. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that tonight.”

With this defeat, RCB’s NRR slips to -0.323 from -0.120. They’ve a must win game against Gujarat Titans on 19th May.

Also Read | “Livingmonster!”- Liam Livingstone’s quick-fire power Punjab to a massive 209 against Bangalore