Punjab hands Bengaluru another home defeat in Indian Premier League
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Punjab Kings kept Royal Challengers Bengaluru winless at home in a rain-shortened Indian Premier League game on Friday.
Light drizzle reduced the Twenty20 game to 14 overs a side and Bengaluru was in danger of being bowled out for its lowest IPL total of 49 before Tim David’s 26-ball unbeaten 50 lifted the home team to 95-9.
Punjab stuttered briefly until Nehal Wadhera smacked three sixes and three boundaries and carried Punjab to 98-5 in 12.1 overs for a five-wicket win.
With a fifth win in seven games, Punjab was second in the table on run rate.
Bengaluru was fourth thanks to four away wins. But it has still to win at home.
Bengaluru slumps to 42-7
Punjab fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett shared five wickets between them. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal bagged 2-11 following 4-28 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Arshdeep made the first inroads with his short balls when Phil Salt (4) and Virat Kohli (1) fell to pulls.
Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis sprinted to square leg and made a scintillating diving catch to get Salt, and Jansen grabbed a sharp catch of Kohli at mid-on.
Captain Rajat Patidar, one of the only two Bengaluru batters to reach double figures, passed 1,000 runs in the IPL but holed out to long-on as he tried to loft Chahal.
South African left-armer Jansen sliced through the middle order with 2-10 as Bengaluru slipped to 42-7 in the eighth over.
David smashed spinner Harpreet Brar (2-25) for three successive sixes in the last over and completed his half-century with two runs off the final ball after the leg-spinner overstepped and conceded a no-ball.
Brar was on a hat trick when he dismissed Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal but Hazlewood prevented the hat trick and David counterattaked in the final over.
Wadhera poised in Punjab’s chase
Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed the Punjab openers inside the four-over powerplay as the fast bowlers prospered in damp conditions.
Captain Shreyas Iyer and Inglis added a quiet 20 runs before Hazlewood returned and gave Bengaluru a glimmer of hope with two brilliant short balls.
Hazlewood got the thick outside edge of Iyer’s drive, and two balls later Inglis sliced a catch to third man as Punjab slipped to 53-4 in eight overs.
But Wadhera successfully took on leg-spinner Suyash Sharma to lead the charge, and Marcus Stoinis finished off the game with a six off Dayal.
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