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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru raced to 61 runs for the loss of one wicket at the end of powerplay against the Punjab Kings. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were at the crease after 6 overs, after Jaco Bethell was dismissed early in the innings.
Harpreet Brar got the early breakthrough for PBKS as Bethell was out for 11 runs. Kohli was unbeaten on 24 runs while Padikkal was on 23 runs at the end of powerplay. RCB will hope to put on a big score and put pressure on the PBKS batters in the second innings.
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer was happy to bowl first after winning the toss. The PBKS skipper hoped that his team could recover from the recent slump in form after losing five matches in a row.
“We`re going to bowl. I`m not going by the stats, we`re clearly seeing how the games pan out. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn`t matter. I seriously had no clue that this was my 100th game as a captain but it feels great. It feels like a great opportunity for me to win my 100th game (as captain). The bowling has been fantastic, but there are pressure moments where you need to execute and so you can`t change the past, nor you can`t anticipate the future. Two changes for us (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) come in.” Shreyas Iyer said.
RCB`s stand-in captain, Jitesh Sharma, admitted that he would have liked to bowl first too. Sharma further added that Rajat Patidar will be available for the next match.
“We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad. We are at the business end of the tournament, and I’m happy with how the team is performing, both individually and as an unit. This win can change the entire table – not just for us, but for several other teams as well. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.” Jitesh Sharma said.
Confirmed Playing XI for both teams:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
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