IPL 2021: Harpreet Brar's 3-for rattles Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings registers 34-run win

The 2021 Indian Premier League is going all guns, as it is the 14th edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 league. Both Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are yet to win the IPL to date, despite having finished as runners-up before.

It was a clever bowling show by Punjab Kings. It managed to dismantle Royal Challengers Bangalore by 34 runs in Match 26 of the Indian Premier League 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Spinner Harpreet Brar claimed a three-for out of nowhere to rattle RCB's batting line-up.

Winning the toss, RCB skipper Virat Kohli elected to bowl first, making a change in the form of Shahbaz Ahmed for Washington Sundar. As for PBKS, Rahul made three changes, bringing in Riley Meredith, Prabhsimran Singh and Harpreet Brar for Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques and Arshdeep Singh.

PBKS was off to a shaky start losing Prabhsimran for just seven in the fourth over, with 19 runs on the board, as pacer Kyle Jamieson got rid of him. Nevertheless, it was followed by an emphatic 80-run stand between Rahul and Chris Gayle before the latter fell just four runs short of his 32nd IPL half-century, as he was caught behind off pacer Daniel Sams in the 11th over.

PBKS seemingly lost its momentum, losing three quick wickets (Nicholas Pooran- 0, Deepak Hooda- 5 and Shahrukh Khan- 0) within the subsequent 19 runs by the 15th over, as the score read 118/5. During this phase, Rahul scored his 25th IPL 50 and carried on the form until the end of the innings, along with Harpreet, to post a tricky total of 179/5.

As for RCB, six bowlers were put into the attack. WhileJamieson attained the most success, Shahbaz was the most economical of the lot.

With RCB coming out for the chase, it was off to a shaky start as well, like PBKS, losing Devdutt Padikkal for just seven after being knocked over by pacer Riley Meredith in the third over, with just 19 runs on the board. Meanwhile, it was followed by a 43-run stand between Kohli and Rajat Patidar, but it could not last long as in the 11th over, Brar got them going for 35 and 31, respectively.

Thereon, RCB lost the momentum and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, as just five runs later, at 69, Brar also got rid of AB de Villiers for a mere three in the 13th over. While there was a soft 22-run stand between Patidar and Shahbaz, the former fell for 31 to pacer Chris Jordan in the 15th over.

At the score of 96, in the 16th over, spinner Ravi Bishnoi sent back Shahbaz (7) and Sams (3). As another 48-run stand followed between Kyle Jamieson (16*) and Harshal Patel (31), it was still not enough. PBKS already had the match in its bag even before the final over was bowled, eventually winning by 34 runs.

For PBKS, six bowlers were utilised. While Brar was the surprise package, claiming a three-for, Bishnoi was highly economical.
Brief scores: PBKS 179/5 (Rahul- 91; Gayle- 46; Jamieson- 2/32) defeats RCB 145/8 (Kohli- 35, Patidar- 31, Harshal- 31, Brar- 3/19) by 34 runs.

NOTE: Asianet News humbly requests everyone to wear masks, sanitise, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated as soon as eligible. Together we can and will break the chain #ANCares #IndiaFightsCorona