Kohli fifty, Karthik finishing act help RCB beat PBKS by 4 wickets

Mar 26, 2024 Sports

Virat Kohli scored a 49-ball 77 in RCB’s chase. (BCCI)

Hindustan Times – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) got off to a quick start almost entirely thanks to Virat Kohli in the powerplay. Kohli smashed 35 in 21 balls after being dropped off the second ball of the innings by Jonny Bairstow and RCB were 50/2 at the end of the powerplay while chasing a target of 177.

While Kohli continued to bat aggressively and power RCB’s chase, he hardly received sustained support from the other end as Kagiso Rabada and Harpreet Brar did most of the damage for the Kings in the middle overs. Eventually though, Kohli himself perished after having scored 77 in 49 balls. While the stadium fell quiet for a while after that, Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror brought Bengaluru roaring back in a match that has now turned out to be a thriller. The pair ended up seeing the hosts through to the end. Karthik hit the winning runs with a four, finishing unbeaten on 28 off 10 balls while Lomror scored 16 in eight balls.

Dinesh Karthik lived up to his billing as a cool finisher. (BCCI)

Earlier, Shashank Singh smashed 20 runs off the last over to push Punjab Kings’ score to 176/6 in what was otherwise a rather subdued batting performance. Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj were the stars for RCB with the ball. Dayal returned figures of 1/23 while Siraj returned 2/26. RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bowl first. Punjab Kings lost opener Jonny Bairstow early to Mohammed Siraj. While captain Shikhar Dhawan tried to get a move on, RCB did well to keep the batters in check and put pressure on PBKS in the first 10 overs. Dhawan was eventually dismissed for 44 off 37 while the dangerous Liam Livingstone fell for just 17 runs in 13 balls. Shashank then came in and made the difference in the last over.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 178 for 6 (Kohli 77, Karthik 28*, Brar 2-13, Rabada 2-23) beat Punjab Kings 176 for 6 (Dhawan 45, Jitesh 27, Siraj 2-26, Maxwell 2-29) by four wickets.

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Jonny Bairstow, Karthik, Kohli fifty, Mahipal Lomror, Royal Challengers Bengaluru

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