Siraj fires RCB to victory in Mohali

The Royal Challengers Bangalore picked up their third victory of IPL 2023 with their 24-run win over the Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday. Another pair of half-centuries from openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis lifted Bangalore to a first-innings total of 174 before Mohammed Siraj rocked the Punjab Kings with the ball in the chase, picking up four wickets to take RCB into the top half of the table.

With Faf du Plessis only listed as a batter and in line to be substituted by the impact player due to a rib injury, Virat Kohli captained RCB for this encounter and walked out for the toss, which Sam Curran won and opted to bowl. Kohli and Du Plessis have developed a formidable partnership at the top of the order for RCB and the experienced pair shared another century stand against Punjab to put their side in the driver’s seat.

Kohli got off the mark in style, driving left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar through the covers, and displayed aggressive intent throughout the powerplay, taking two fours off Arshdeep Singh’s second over. The South African, meanwhile, was more sedate to begin with, but eventually got going against Brar in the fourth over, clubbing the spinner for two sixes. The pair added 59 runs in the powerplay, but Punjab managed to slow down the scoring rate through the middle as the pitch slowed down.

Kohli, in particular, struggled to find the boundaries with the field spread out, managing just 30 runs off his final 28 deliveries before getting out on 59 in the 17th over. Although Faf du Plessis routinely found the boundaries in a magnificent 56-ball 84, Bangalore managed just 44 runs off the final five overs despite having plenty of wickets in hand as Punjab applied the screws at the death.

Chasing 175, Punjab lost their way inside the first six overs as their top order crumbled against the new ball. Mohammed Siraj had both Atharva Taide and the returning Liam Livingstone trapped on their pads, while Wanindu Hasaranga cleaned up the Australian Matthew Short. The hosts also shot themselves in the foot with some poor running, with Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Sam Curran dismissed by direct hits, leaving Punjab reeling at 76 for 5.

Opening the innings as the impact substitute, Prabhsimran Singh kept the Kings alive with a promising counter-attack but was castled by Wayne Parnell for 46 with 77 still required. Jitesh Sharma carried Prabhsimran’s momentum with another impressive cameo to take the game down to the wire, but Mohammed Siraj delivered the killing blow with 30 needed off three overs, dismissing Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis off successive balls to give the visitors a vital victory away from home.