Virat Kohli made a winning ‘return’ as captain as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Punjab Kings by 24 runs at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday. Kohli stood in as RCB captain because Faf du Plessis was substituted in the second innings due to a niggle. However, both men hit contrasting half-centuries to script an important victory.After Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 137 for the first wicket, Mohammed Siraj and Wanindu Hasaranga picked important wickets to hand RCB their third win in six matches in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
Punjab Kings got off to a horror start to their chase. Mohammed Siraj struck twice in his first spell to remove Atharva Taide and the dangerous Liam Livingstone. In Shikhar Dhawan’s absence, Livingstone was expected to do the bulk of the work with the bat but his cheap dismissal meant PBKS were under immense pressure. In between those two Siraj strikes, Wanindu Hasaranga snared Matthew Short with a brilliant googly.
And soon after, PBKS slipped into further trouble when a stunning direct hit from Mohammed Siraj caught Harpreet Singh Brar short of the crease at the non-striker’s end. Sam Curran walked in to bat much earlier than he would have liked but luckily for him and PBKS, Prabhsimran Singh was playing another gem.
A lot depended on that pair, but RCB were electrifying on the field. This time, a sensational throw from Hasaranga ran Sam Curran out and the hosts were reeling at 76 for 5 in the 10th over with a mountain to climb against a charged-up bowling line-up. Virat Kohli, as he has been for so many years, was inspirational as a leader. His body language was aggressive and rubbed off on the others as RCB went about their task of defending what many felt was a below-par total.
