Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli decided to bat first after winning the toss against KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in match 48 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Kohli went into the game with an unchanged side while PBKS made three changes, bringing in Harpreet Brar, Sarfaraz Khan and Moises Henriques in place for Fabain Allen, Deepak Hooda and Nathan Ellis.
Batting first, RCB lost Virat Kohli and Daniel Christian in back-to-back Moises Henriques deliveries to put PBKS on par in the match after enduring a good start from opposition openers, going for 67 runs in 9 overs. Henriques further removed Devdutt Padikkal to jolt RCB's surge in the middle-overs.
Glenn Maxwell once again starred with the bat for RCB as he smashed 57 runs to help RCB post 164/7 in 20 overs.
PBKS openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started well in pursuit of the 165-run target but soon lost their skipper for 39 runs in the 11th over against RCB in Sharjah.
Yuzvendra Chahal picked three wickets including the big scalp of Mayank Agarwal, thus bringing RCB back into the contest. But in the end, PBKS kept losing wickets and fell short of the target. George Garton dismissed Aiden Markram who played a brief cameo to give hopes to PBKS.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB 164/7: Maxwell 57, Henriques 3/12) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS 158/6: Mayank 57, Chahal 3/29) by 6 runs to seal the qualification for playoffs.
RCB are currently placed third in the pecking order with eight wins and four defeats for a total of 16 points. Punjab remain one of four teams locked on the points table in the race for the last playoff spot, but they now have one match less in hand than their rivals.
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