Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal lauded his batters after they chased down a par score of 206 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore with five wickets in hand at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Sunday.
RCB was able to post 205 runs on the board after Agarwal had won the toss and decided to put the opposition in.
Faf du Plessis got off to a slow start however he was able to change gears after settling at the crease. The RCB captain scored a fine knock of 88 runs whereas former skipper Virat Kohli contributed with 41 runs. Dinesh Karthik played a brisk cameo of 32 runs off just 14 balls to take RCB over the 200-run mark.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings got off to a solid start as Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan added 71 runs for the opening alliance in the first seven overs. Subsequently, Dhawan added 47 runs with wicket-keeper batter Bhanuka Rajapaksha. Dhawan and Rajapaksha scored 43 runs each after Agarwal had scored 32 runs.
Mohammed Siraj was able to get RCB back in the contest with two dismissals however Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith were able to get their team over the line in the run-chase. Smith played a crucial knock of 25 runs off just eight balls to turn the match on its head. Siraj conceded 25 runs in the 18th over he bowled and it was the turning point of the game.
Mayank Agarwal said in the post-match presentation, “Two points for us is very important. Good wicket. Very good wicket as both sides scored 200 plus. One or two balls held up but nothing apart from that. Credit to the way we finished. We took the right chances and am glad it came off. I think we gave them 15-20 more. Virat and Faf took the game away from us but credit to our batters to chase this down. We trust our skills. It doesn’t come off, it doesn’t come off but we are not going to panic and make a scene out of it.”
Punjab Kings will be delighted after making a winning start to their campaign and they will look to continue the good show. It was a collective batting effort from Punjab but they would want to come up with a better bowling performance in the coming matches.
Rahul Chahar was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS as he conceded only 22 runs in his quota of four overs and also accounted for Anuj Rawat. PBKS will next face Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.
