Siraj, du Plessis work their magic in RCB win
Royal Challengers Bangalore 174 for 4 (Du Plessis 84, Kohli 59, Brar 2-31) beat Punjab Kings 150 (Prabhsimran 46, Jitesh 41, Siraj 4-21) by 24 runs
Faf du Plessis revealed that he wouldn’t have even played this game had the Impact Player rule not been in place. Du Plessis – bruised rib and all – hit 84 off 56 balls on a sluggish Mohali pitch to haul Royal Challengers Bangalore to 174 for 4, despite a late slowdown. He then rested in the dugout and watched Mohammed Siraj excel in both the powerplay and death to help them defend the target.
Royal Challengers had managed only 37 for 4 in their last four overs after being on 137 for 0 in 16 overs. However, they dominated the powerplay – both with bat and then ball – to hold off Punjab Kings and give their campaign a leg-up after a narrow defeat against Chennai Super Kings at home.
Full report to follow...
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Siraj's brilliant 18th over
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Jitesh is the last PBKS batter to fall in the 19th over as RCB defend 174 for 4, despite their slowdown in the middle overs and in the death.
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The rise of Jitesh Sharma
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Jitesh gives PBKS hope
Prabhsimran falls four short of a half-century and in the next over Hasaranga has Shahrukh stumped, but Jitesh gives his side some hope with his big hits. He carves Vyshak over extra-cover and then launches a straight six to keep PBKS in it. They need 37 off 24 balls with three wickets in hand. Siraj still has one over left.
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Siraj bosses the powerplay once again
After getting Taide with late inswing, Siraj pings Livingstone's pads. Not given out lbw on the field once again. After a fairly long chat with Siraj and DK, Kohli calls for a review. Was the impact in line? Yes and it would've hit the top of leg stump. This is Siraj's sixth powerplay wicket this IPL. No other bowler has picked up more wickets than Siraj in the first six overs this season.
Siraj then nails a direct hit from mid-off to catch Harpreet Singh Bhatia short and leave PBKS at 43 for 4 in the sixth over.
Sam Curran's run-out then sees them slip further to 76 for 5 in the tenth over.
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Siraj, Hasaranga make early inroads for RCB
Death. Taxes. Siraj striking in the powerplay. On Thursday afternoon, he traps Taide lbw second ball after a successful review. This is Siraj's fifth powerplay wicket in six innings this season. Only Titans' Shami has more wickets than Siraj in the powerplay this IPL. Hasaranga also strikes in the powerplay, bowling an advancing Short with a first-ball wrong'un.
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T20 Time:Out with Moody and Muzumdar
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Kings restrict RCB to 174 for 4
RCB were 91 for 0 in ten overs. They were then 137 for 0 in 16 overs. They end with only 174 for 4 as Curran and Ellis close it out with their slower variations and on-pace yorkers. Seamer Vyshak Vijaykumar comes in as an Impact Player for RCB in place of du Plessis. As for PBKS, Prabhsimran Singh replaces Rahul Chahar as their Impact Player.
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Brar goes bang bang
After having dropped a skier in the previous over, Jitesh pulls off a stunner, moving away to his left, even before Kohli spliced a sweep, and coming out with the ball in his left hand. After taking some pasting in the powerplay, Brar gives PBKS the first breakthrough. He then has Glenn Maxwell holing out for a golden duck to slow down RCB even further.
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Sam Curran vs du Plessis
After giving up just 13 runs in his first two overs, Curran brings himself back into the attack at the death. He goes for the yorker, but it comes out as a beamer that flies past the helmet of du Plessis who loses his balance and falls on the floor. Curran then digs an offcutter into the pitch and draws a top edge from du Plessis, but Jitesh Sharma, the keeper, drops a skier. These slower balls are gripping the Mohali track. Curran closes out a seven-run over with on-pace yorkers.
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Kohli brings up his own fifty
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Kohli's post-powerplay slowdown
Here's our statsguru Sampath Bandarupalli: Since the start of 2020, Virat Kohli has a strike rate of 95.06 across the three overs (7-9) after the powerplay in the IPL, the lowest among the batters who have faced at least 50 balls. In those three overs, Kohli scored 212 runs off 223 balls, being dismissed only once. In situations where the team had not lost more than one wicket, Kohli strikes at 98.9 in those three overs, which is also the lowest for any batter.
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Faf motors along to another half-century
Nursing an injured rib, du Plessis’ only job was to bat for RCB. He had started fairly slowly, but has picked up the speed to bring up a half-century off 31 balls. After the powerplay, Ellis and the spinners tried to keep him quiet by attacking the stumps, but he continued to back away and manufacture scoring opportunities. RCB are 91 for 0 in ten overs
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Faf targets Brar
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Faf du Plessis - bruised rib and all - backs away, manufactures swinging room and launches left-arm fingerspinner Harpreet Brar over his head for six. He then creates more room and pumps it over midwicket for six more. After giving up just six runs in his first over, Brar has leaked 17 runs in his second. Kohli has also started strongly, taking RCB to 50 at the start of the sixth over.
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T20 Time Out Live with Moody and Muzumdar
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No du Plessis for RCB; no Dhawan for PBKS
Kohli captains RCB in the injury-enforced absence of du Plessis. They've been asked to bat first by Kings. Kohli says Faf can't field because of his bruised rib, but has been slotted in as an Impact Player. He will start for RCB and will be replaced by seamer Vyshak Vijaykumar at the innings break
Kings' captain Sam Curran hints Dhawan is closer to full fitness. However, they will be boosted by the return of Liam Livingstone. Raza has been left out, despite turning in a Player-of-the-Match performance in Kings' last game. Rabada has made way for Ellis.
RCB XI: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 Mahipal Lomror, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Shahbaz Ahmed, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Suyash Prabhudessai, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, David Willey, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Anuj Rawat
PBKS XI: 1 Atharva Taide, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Harpreet Singh Bhatia, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Sam Curran (capt), 6 Jitesh Sharma(wk), 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Sikandar Raza, Mohit Rathee, Rishi Dhawan, Shivam Singh
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Welcome!
It's time for Match 27 of IPL 2023: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell threated to mow down a record chase against CSK at the Chinnaswamy, but they eventually lost by eight runs. Du Plessis battled through a side strain during that game and is now warming up in Mohali. As for Kings, they also have to contend with injuries to key players: captain Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone. It remains to be seen whether both players are fit and available for today's fixture. It had rained overnight in Mohali, but the weather seems clear for now.
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