‘Ee sala cup namde’? Well, for now at least. Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans can heave a sigh of relief as Faf Du Plessis-led squad defeated Punjab Kings in match 58 of Tata IPL 2024 to keep their playoff hopes alive. Virat Kohli smashed stunning 92 and Rajat Patidar fiery 55 fueled RCB to a mega total of 241/7 at Dharamshala on Thursday. In response, Punjab Kings had a strong start but they faltered in the middle overs. In the end, Md Siraj took the match-winning wicket of Arshdeep Singh. This means that Punjab Kings have now been officially knocked out of IPl 2024. They have now joined Mumbai Indians in early exit group. 

While Patidar provided the early pace to the innings, Kohli, who survived misfielding, kept up the tempo till the very end. With 634 runs, Virat Kohli is the current Orange Cap holder. The Dharamshala innings helped him to equal Chris Gayle’s record of most editions of IPL with 600+ runs. On Thursday, Kohli scripted a history as he crossed the 600-run mark for the fourth time.

In reply, Rilee Rossouw put up a strong fightback with a 27-ball 61-run knock. At one point, Punjab were on right track for their chase. But Karn Sharma’s double strike sparked a collapse as PBKS were all out for 181 in 17 overs. Md Siraj picked up three wickets. Lockie Ferguson took out Jonny Bairstow. This is the 10th instance of Punjab Kings not making it to the playoff stage with an early exit.

Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru – Scorecard

Punjab Kings innings:

  • Prabhsimran Singh lbw b Swapnil Singh 6
  • Jonny Bairstow c du Plessis b Lockie Ferguson 27
  • Rilee Rossouw c Will Jacks b Karn Sharma 61
  • Shashank Singh run out 37
  • Jitesh Sharma b Karn Sharma 5
  • Liam Livingstone c Karn Sharma b Swapnil Singh 0
  • Sam Curran b Lockie Ferguson 22
  • Ashutosh Sharma lbw b Siraj 8
  • Harshal Patel c Lockie Ferguson b Siraj 0
  • Rahul Chahar not out 5
  • Arshdeep Singh c Karn Sharma b Siraj 4
  • Extras: (lb-2, w-4) 6
  • Total: 181 all out in 17 overs
  • Fall of wickets: 6-1, 71-2, 107-3, 125-4, 126-5, 151-6, 164-7, 170-8, 174-9 Bowling: Swapnil Singh 3-0-28-2, Mohammed Siraj 4-0-43-3, Yash Dayal 2-0-22-0, Lockie Ferguson 3-0-29-2, Will Jacks 1-0-5-0, Cameron Green 1-0-16-0, Karn Sharma 3-0-36-2.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

  • Virat Kohli c Rossouw b Arshdeep Singh 92
  • Faf du Plessis c Shashank Singh b Kaverappa 9
  • Will Jacks c Patel b Kaverappa 12
  • Rajat Patidar c Bairstow b Curran 55
  • Cameron Green c Curran b Patel 46
  • Dinesh Karthik c Curran b Patel 18
  • Mahipal Lomror b Patel 0
  • Swapnil Singh not out 1
  • Extras: (LB-1, NB-1, W-6) 8
  • Total: (For 7 wkts, 20 overs) 241
  • Fall of wkts: 1-19, 2-43, 3-119, 4-211, 5-238, 6-240, 7-241.
  • Bowling: Vidwath Kaverappa 4-0-36-2, Arshdeep Singh 3-0-41-1, Sam Curran 3-0-50-1, Harshal Patel 4-0-38-3, Rahul Chahar 3-0-47-0, Liam Livingstone 3-0-28-0.

(With PTI inputs)