Mullanpur: Royal Challengers Bengaluru spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma bowled stifling spells to restrict Punjab Kings to an under-par 157 for six in the IPL match in Mullanpur Sunday.
The left-arm spinner Krunal (2/25) and leg-spinner Suyash (2/27) were at their crafty best after Royal Challengers opted to field first on a pitch that had a hint of slowness.
In fact, the Punjab side made a good start to their innings with Priyansh Arya (22) and Prabhsimran Singh (33) adding 42 runs in 4.2 overs.
There was no sign of an impending storm when Arya made his runs through those short-arm pulls and hit-through-line shots.
The left-hander was harsh on pacer Yash Dayal whom he carted for a six and two fours, and sensing the comfort of PBKS openers against quick bowlers, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar turned to Pandya in the fifth over.
It proved a captaincy master-stroke as Krunal immediately fetched the desired result, getting rid of Arya, who could not time the shot well of a slower delivery. Tim David took a simple catch at the edge of the circle.
It opened the floodgates as the hosts lost three wickets in the space of 14 runs, slipping to 76 for four, and Nehal Wadhera’s horrific run out added to their misery.
It reminded one of their collapse to 111 against Kolkata Knight Riders a few days back at the same venue..
However, the most disappointing dismissals were that of skipper Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis.
Shreyas went for an on-the-up shot off RCB debutant Romario Shepherd, but could only toe-end a catch to a diving Krunal.
Inglis, who looked set with a couple of scooped fours off Shepherd and a six over long-on off Pandya, perished to Suyash.
The Aussie gave himself too much room while trying to carve Suyash over the covers, but the side-spin on the ball ensured that it reached out of his bat’s arc.
Shashank Singh (31 not out), who was dropped on 27 at short third by Dayal off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Marco Jansen (25 not out) added 43 runs for the seventh wicket as PBKS sneaked past the 150-run mark.
Jansen finished the innings with a six off Josh Hazlewood as PBKS could only make 38 runs off the last five overs.
PTI
