Riding on Glenn Maxwell's quickfire fifty (57 off 33 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a total of 164 for 7 against Punjab Kings in the 48th match of the IPL 2021, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Sunday.
Apart from Maxwell, Devdutt Padikkal also played a vital knock of 40 runs for Bangalore.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a flying start. The duo played some beautiful shots and took RCB to 55/0 at the end of the powerplay.
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However, during the process, Kohli was given a few lifelines by the Punjab team. In the 4th over of the innings bowled by Ravi Bishnoi, Virat stepped out of his crease and KL Rahul missed a relatively easy stumping chance to dismiss RCB captain. Very soon, Sarfaraz Khan dropped Kohli's catch at midwicket.
The 8th over, bowled by Ravi Bishnoi was the most eventful one when KL Rahul and Punjab Kings were left baffled after a caught-behind appeal was turned down against Devdutt Padikkal.
Padikkal, who was struggling to read the leg-spinner's googlies, went for a reverse sweep but was not able to execute the shot properly and got an under-edge.
Both, Bishnoi and KL Rahul went up in appeal immediately but the on-field umpire did not give it out, forcing Rahul to go for the review. The replays showed the ball kissed Padikkal's gloves before crashing into KL Rahul's gloves. However, the third umpire deemed it not out and went with the on-field call, leaving Rahul and Bishnoi frustrated.
Thereafter, Punjab captain Rahul brought Moises Henriques (3/12) into the attack and he wreaked havoc. First, he dismissed Kohli (25) and then got rid of Daniel Christian in the next ball to bring Punjab back in the game. In his next over, Henriques struck again to remove a set Padikkal for 40.
After losing the wickets of Kohli, Christian, and Padikkal in quick succession, Bangalore were at 73/3 and in big trouble. But, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers batted well and stitched a good partnership to bring RCB back on track.
While Maxwell was the aggressor, de Villiers batted cautiously. Continuing his brilliant form, Maxwell cleverly targeted the short boundary and hit a few big sixes to complete his fifty off just 29 balls in the 18th over. De Villiers (23 off 18) also hit Arshdeep Singh for a six in the first ball of the over, before getting out to him in the next ball.
Mohammed Shami (3/39) put brakes on RCB's run-rate in the 20th over as he dismissed Maxwell (57 off 33), Shahbaz Ahmed (8), and George Garton in the same over.
In the end, Bangalore posted a total of 164/7 in 20 overs, which is the highest total this season in Sharjah.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 164/7 (Glenn Maxwell 57 off 33 balls, Devdutt Padikkal 40 off 38 balls, Moises Henriques 3/12, Mohammed Shami 3/39) against Punjab Kings.
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