IPL 2020: Punjab Wins on RCB in a Last-Over Thriller

Kings XI Punjab tasted their second victory of this season. Incidentally, both their victories came against Royal Challengers Bangalore. A stunning batting performance by Punjab gave them a win against RCB by 8 wickets. With this win, Punjab still survives in the tournament.

Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first. RCB openers started off well but Devdutt Padikkal fell in the fifth over. In the seventh over, another opener Aaron Finch was dismissed. Then, Virat Kohli (48) decided to stay deep through the innings. He got good support from Washington Sunder and Shivam Dube. Punjab bowlers made a strong comeback during the backend of the innings and scalped important wickets. When everyone thought that RCB will end their innings with a score of below 150, Chris Morris (25*) and Isuru Udana scored 24 off the last over. By the end of 20 overs, RCB posted a total of 171/6.

Punjab started off their innings with a lot of confidence. Openers Mayank Agarwal (45) and KL Rahul (61*) started smashing RCB bowlers right from the beginning. They once again made a 50-run+ partnership for the first wicket. Finally, Mayank got dismissed in the eighth over. After that, Chris Gayle (53) joined Rahul and made sure to stay in the crease almost till the end.

Both of them scored their respective half-centuries and also made a partnership of 93 runs. When Punjab needed one run to win, Gayle got run-out. They then needed to score one run off the last ball. Nicholas Pooran sent that ball to the boundary and gave a victory to Punjab. Thus, Punjab scored 177/2 in 20 overs. Punjab will next face Mumbai Indians on October 18 and RCB will take on Rajasthan Royals on October 17.