DHARAMSALA: Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer, along with a decisive opening spell from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to thrash Punjab Kings by 23 runs and seal a playoff berth in the IPL here on Sunday.

Kohli (58 off 37 balls), Iyer (73 not out off 40 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (45) produced impactful knocks as RCB piled up 222 for 4 in 20 overs. 

Bhuvneshwar (2/38) then removed the dangerous Punjab Kings opening pair of Priyansh Arya (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (2) early to all but shut the door on the opposition, who eventually managed 199 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer did not mince words after Punjab Kings slumped to their fourth successive defeat, blaming the team’s bowling and fielding after failing to defend what he felt was a total “30 runs more” than par on a tricky pitch against Delhi Capitals.

PBKS lost by three wickets to Delhi Capitals in a home IPL game in Dharamsala on Monday.

Iyer’s Disappointment With Punjab Kings’ Performance

“I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just say fielding and bowling again,” Iyer said.

Priyansh Arya hit half a dozen sixes in his whirlwind 33-ball 56 before DC pacers tweaked their lengths to limit Punjab Kings to 210 for five. Besides Arya, Iyer made 59 not out off 36 balls to push PBKS to to 210 for 5 on a wicket that had something for the fast bowlers.

Aggressive knocks from David Miller (51 off 28) and skipper Axar Patel (56 off 30) allowed DC to gun down 211 in 19 overs for the highest chase at the HPCA Stadium.

Assessing The Score And Bowling Strategy

Asked if he thought 210 was a good score on this wicket, Iyer said: “Absolutely, I feel that it was 30 runs more on this wicket considering how the ball was seaming and there was variable bounce.”

Iyer said he thought of bringing in impact substitute Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack but changed his mind witnessing the assistance for the seamers from the pitch.

“There was absolutely a thought in my mind (on introducing Chahal), but the way ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t.

Focus On Execution And Planning

“I always say that the hard length – short of a hard length – is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one ball gives a chance of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short of planning,” he said.

Delhi Capitals’ Perspective

Winning captain Axar Patel said DC executed their plans well in the crucial moments against Punjab Kings, an area where the side had previously fallen short.

“Since last time I have been saying we are losing the crucial moments. We are a good team, playing a good cricket but not winning those crucial moments. Really happy with the way we played and hopefully we continue playing like this,” he said.

“The first 3-4 overs we went for 60 runs and we pulled things back. In the middle overs the way Madhav and Mukesh bowled were the winning moments.

“Even with the bat, after my dismissal the way Miller, Ashutosh and Madhav batted it was great. The ball was swinging and seaming, we didn’t bowl in the right areas in the first 3-4 overs but it was doing something right through, that’s why I didn’t use spin.”

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Urvil Patelhas equalled the record for the fastest fifty in the IPL by smashing a half-century off 13 balls against Lucknow Super Giants at Chepauk. He shares the record with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who brought up his half-century off 13 balls on the way to 98 not out against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in IPL 2023.

Urvil came to bat at number three after Sanju Samson fell early and hit six sixes off his first eight balls, also an IPL record. He had reached 41 runs off his first eight balls only, and the next two went for a single and a dot.

Urvil somehow managed to keep going even beyond the powerplay overs, ending with a 23-ball 65. He showed no mercy to pace or spin, hitting three consecutive sixes against pacer Avesh Khan before smacking three maximums and a four against spinner Digvesh Rathi for back-to-back 25-run overs.