One team that is well-known for its outstanding batting lineup is the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Most of the time, they have been heavily criticised for their bowling, which is frequently regarded as their weakness. However, on a spectacular Tuesday night that will go down as the most memorable day in the club’s history, the bowlers accomplished what their hitters had failed to do in three prior finals.
The initial plan was for the batters to play without the pressure of a target in front of them and right the wrongs of the past after they chased and lost the three previous finals (2009, 2011, and 2016). But, against a fired-up Punjab Kings bowling attack who came with a plan and executed them to the hilt in a nervy final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, RCB batters huffed and puffed to settle for seemingly par 190/9 in 20 overs.
The RCB bowlers then gave the anxious-looking Punjab batting lineup a taste of their own medicine while watching everything from the bench and subsequently for a short while in the middle. First, by bowling precise lines and lengths, the pace trio of Josh Hazlewood (1/54) Yash Dayal (1/18) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/38) made sure the free-stroking Punjab batsmen didn’t get off to a fast start.
The three used tactics that were nearly identical to those of Punjab’s bowlers. They chose to use short, good-length deliveries and used deft variations to continuously slow down the ball. With just one drop from Josh Inglis providing that extra kick, neither of Punjab’s openers, Priyansh Arya nor Prabhsimran Singh, could get going.
After a calm start, Punjab’s batters were forced to let caution go as pressure mounted. Krunal Pandya was brought in by RCB captain Rajat Patidar, and the veteran’s game-changing spell gave RCB the upper hand. In four overs, he scalped the two important wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis, and gave away just 17 runs in the bargain.
During that time, Punjab needed 112 off 62 balls after Romario Shepherd, in yet another brilliant move from Patidar, removed Shreyas Iyer for just one. At that point, RCB realised that unless they collapsed, the trophy would return home. Fortunately, they didn’t, as they maintained a firm grip on Punjab. They quickly won a historic match that had Virat Kohli in tears and reduced to his haunches, even though Shashank Singh finished with a 30-ball 61 not out.
However, Kohli’s performance in the final was not what he would have preferred. He struggled to make strokes in order to get a tough 43 off 35 balls against a disciplined Punjab bowling attack that rarely produced poor deliveries. He only scored three boundaries, but even if it wasn’t as good as the one he hit against South Africa in the Americas last year in the T20 World Cup final, he still won.
Jitesh Sharma and Liam Livingstone deserve recognition for making sure RCB had a respectable number to aim for. Livingstone blasted a 15-ball 25 that ultimately made a huge difference, while Jitesh scored an incredible 10-ball 24.
