CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO- Sri Lankan ace leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga produced another stellar performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cruised to a convincing 24-run victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 27th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, Chandigarh on Thursday.
The 25-year-old all-rounder captured the key wickets of Matthew Short and hard-hitting batsman Shahrukh Khan and followed up with the run out of Skipper Sam Curran as PBKS were skittle out for 150 runs after they were set a victory target of 175.
Hasaranga was introduced into the attack very early in the innings and he responded immediately by deceiving the aggressive Short, who went for a swing across the line by charging down the track first ball and missed it completely.
Hasaranga was hammered for a couple of sixes by the top scorer Prabhsimran Singh, but the Sri Lankan star soon displayed his all-round skills by pulling off a brilliant direct hit run out of Curran in the next over via a powerful throw at the non-striker’s end.
Khan got off the mark with a huge six off Parnell but couldn’t last long as he was stumped off a googly from Hasaranga in the next over.
Hasaranga returned outstanding figures of two wickets for 39 while opening bowler Mohammed Siraj captured four for 21 to return his best figures in the IPL.
Earlier, Skipper Virat Kohli and Francois de Plessis gave the RCB a flying start by putting on 137 runs for the first wicket from 16.1 overs after they were invited to bat first.
Kohli was the aggressor to start off as he hit three fours in the first three overs. Du Plessis then opened as he hoisted a couple of sixes off Harpreet Brar as the pair took 17 runs off the fourth over.
The pair found gaps with ease with well-placed shots to hit three more fours and bring up another fifty-run stand as RCB reached 59 for no loss at the end of the Powerplay.
Kohli and du Plessis played the short ball well and struck boundaries off it without taking too much of a risk. The duo brought up the 100-run stand off 70 balls and Kohli thumped one wide of long off for a four off Arshdeep to bring up his fifty off 40 balls while Du Plessis reached his half century from 31 balls.
Chief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 174/4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 59, Francois du Plessis 84, Harpreet Brar 2/31)
Punjab Kings: 150 in 18.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 46, Jitesh Sharma 41, Mohammed Siraj 4/21, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/39)
