Indian Premier League 2021 had its first double-header with Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 1st game of the day at Chennai while Punjab Kings took on Delhi Capitals.
In the match one, Virat Kohli opted to bat first and the team had lost early wickets, Varun Chakravarthy was the culprit. He bowled well to grab a couple of wickets.
Lesser did they know that the in-form Glenn Maxwell along with AB de Villiers would destroy the bowling attack of KKR.
Maxwell had 49-ball 78 with 3 sixes and 9 fours while De Villiers had 34-ball 76 with 9 fours and 3 sixes. They took the team to 204.
It was always going to be a difficult chase in Chennai. As expected KKR were under pressure immediately as Siraj bowled dots, adding pressure. As a result, KKR had to find runs somewhere which didn’t happen and they ended up losing wickets.
In the end, the team fell 38 runs short of the total with Jamieson grabbing 3 wickets and Chahal, Patel picking up two.
In the 2nd match, Agarwal began well and with the support of captain Rahul, the PBKS team reached 122 in 12 overs, Agarwal was the first to go, scored 69. On the other hand, Rahul made 51-ball 61.
The team began to lose the plot in the 2nd half of the game as they ended with 195 runs.
In return, Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw addes 59 for the first wicket and Shaw had to go after 32. PBKS has themselves to blame for poor bowling which made things easier for Dhawan who made 92 from just 49. He had 13 fours and a couple of sixes.
Stoinis then made 27* from 13 to take the team home in the 19th over. Arshdeep Singh was the only bowler who was economical. He ended with 1 for 22.
Punjab Kings have lost two matches in a row now while Delhi Capitals moves to number two, just behind Royal Challengers Bangalore who are unbeaten in the tournament at the moment.
Vale, Professor Deano | Dean Jones