Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore has registered a convincing win by 6 runs over Punjab Kings. Elected to bat first, RCB openers got off to a steady start.
Later, Glenn Maxwell continued his rich form and smashed 57 and helped his side to post a decent total of 164 in 20 overs. Both Mohammad Shami and Henriques claimed 3 wickets each as well.
While chasing, PBKS got off to a flying start. Both KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal added 91 runs. But Yuzvendra Chahal’s 3 for 29 along with others’ spell restricted them within 158, registering a win by 6 runs.
RCB batsmen today (min 10 balls faced):
AB De Villiers – 127.78 Strike Rate.
Paddikal – 105.26 Strike Rate.
Virat Kohli – 104.17 Strike Rate.Glenn Maxwell – 172.73 Strike Rate.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 3, 2021
Glenn Maxwell, who won the player of the match, said: “Came in at a nice time to bat. Lucky to hit the first couple of risks out of the middle. I feel like the last two years of IPL I have batted nicely. To have it set up by the openers today gave us some time to get an idea of the wicket. Coming into RCB they wanted me to do the exact same role (as with Australia). This (Sharjah) is probably the most difficult to adjust to. The spinners get it to skid on which means you have to be sharper at the start of your innings.”
RCB captain Virat Kohli said: “Feels amazing. After 2011, we haven’t done it with games to spare. Eight wins out of 12 games is a great campaign. We have two more opportunities to finish in the top two. Should give us motivation to play even more fearlessly. When you don’t have any wickets on the scoreboard, you can take more risks. Which myself and Dev [Padikkal] have to. 15-20 runs on this ground can be crucial. We have to plug those areas. As a side, we have had an endeavour to improve, whether in losses or wins. We knew the wicket would get slower and slower. KL and Mayank batted really well, but we knew we were just two wickets from coming back into the game. (On the bowlers) The resurgence of Siraj, ever since he has done well in Test cricket. Harshal’s inclusion has been outstanding. Yuzi has chipped in, as has Shahbaz. Garton has come in. If the players don’t step up, then the campaign goes off track.”
Brilliant from @yuzi_chahal! 👏 👏
Almost a three-wicket over! 👌 👌
The @RCBTweets bowler dismisses Mayank Agarwal and Sarfaraz Khan in an over. #VIVOIPL #RCBvPBKS
Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/0E5ehhSWRx pic.twitter.com/rSCkQCNS7q
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 3, 2021
Yuzvendra Chahal said: “(What he has done in UAE) I just believe in me. That’s what I was missing in the first half. I have just backed my strength and just varied my line today. On this wicket, 160 is a very good score. We knew if we got early wickets, we could get them. In the middle overs, we decided to go more for dot balls. (On Mayank) He’s a great batsman and it’s always challenging to bowl to him. I didn’t want to give him loose balls. Wanted him to hit boundaries if he could. We had a good momentum. After the first two games, we have bounced back well. Batting, bowling and fielding. We are just focused on taking it game by game.”
KL Rahul said: “I wouldn’t say I haven’t enjoyed wearing it (the Orange Cap) but I would have been happier if we had qualified. It was a score that was par. Maybe 10-15 runs extra. When a guy like Maxwell comes in with that sort of form, it makes it difficult. But with the bat, the last couple of years have been disappointing. If I have to be honest, our batting has let us down. I’ll be lying if I say it doesn’t play on my mind that I play a role that the team demands. It’s not something that I enjoy, but when you lead the team, you have to accept the responsibility. In T20, the top two or three do score a bulk of the runs. You won’t have people in the middle order scoring 500-600 runs. But we have missed someone in the middle who scores those 30-40 quick runs. Shahrukh and some of the other Indian young guys have been going well.”
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