PTI
Navi Mumbai, March 27
Newly-appointed skipper Faf du Plessis’ scintillating 57-ball 88 went in vain as Punjab Kings produced a solid batting display to script a successful chase for a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a thrilling IPL match here today.
While du Plessis showed his six-hitting prowess, hammering seven sixes in his whirlwind knock, Virat Kohli also chipped in with an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls and Dinesh Karthik made a quickfire 32 not out as RCB posted a massive 205/2 after being invited to bat.
The chase was steep but Punjab overhauled the target, scoring 208/5 with an entire over to spare.
While Mayank Agarwal (32 off 24) and Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 29) added 71 for the first wicket to lay the foundation for the chase, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (43 off 22) also shone on his debut but Punjab suffered a collapse and were reeling at 156/5.
However, Shahrukh Khan (24 not out off 20 balls) and Odean Smith (25 not out off 8 balls) then joined hands to complete the job in the end. The duo shared a 52-run unbroken stand off just 25 balls for the sixth wicket to take Punjab home.
Smith smashed three sixes and a four off Mohammed Siraj in the 18th over to accumulate 25 runs and bring down the equation to 11 from the final two overs.
Khan, who hit one four and two sixes, finished the game with a boundary as Mayank Agarwal started his captaincy tenure with a win.
Delhi cross Mumbai hurdle
Mumbai: Lalit Yadav played the innings of his life with an unbeaten 48 while Axar Patel smashed 38 not out off 17 balls as a depleted Delhi Capitals started their campaign with a stunning four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians.
Chasing a challenging 178, Delhi were down to 72/5 inside 10 overs but the lesser-known Delhi all-rounder Yadav stayed calm during his 38-ball unbeaten knock to take his side home.
India all-rounder Patel chipped in with a quickfire 17-ball 38 not out as they overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare.
Yadav smashed four boundaries and two sixes, while Patel had two hours and three sixes as the duo stitched a match-winning 75-run partnership from 30 balls for the seventh wicket.
After an ordinary day with the ball (4-0-40-0), Patel kept his best for the run chase after Delhi lost their key batters — Prithvi Shaw (38), Rishabh Pant (1), Rovman Powell (0) — cheaply.
Mumbai also lacked sting in their pace attack. —
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