With the pitch under the covers because of rain Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer was unsure how it would behave when the match started. After a two-hour delay because of rain, the match was reduced to 14 overs a side and decided to bowl first on winning the toss.
There was no thinking, to be honest, I was just taking instinctive moves. To be honest we didn't know how the wicket was going to feel but the bowlers adapted to it. I had a chat with Arshdeep and he said the hard-length balls were hard to hit. That was the chatter in the middle and they executed brilliantly.
With Iyer moving his bowlers regularly so as not to allow the new batters to settle down, Arshdeep Singh claimed 2-23, Marco Jansen got 2-10, Yuzvendra Chahal bagged 2-11 and Harpreet Brar ended up with 2-25 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru were restricted to 95/9 in 14 overs.
Arshdeep started the RCB slide when he had Phil Salt edging behind to Josh Inglis for four and sent back Virat Kohli (1) in his next over. RCB could not recover from it, losing wickets at regular intervals as they soon slumped to 63/8 and then to 63/9. Tim David blasted five fours and three sixes on his way to 26-ball 50 not out as RCB ended with 95/9.
There was a bit of pace and bounce, which all fast bowlers enjoy. Everyone has a role to play, and for me, whatever I need to do, I try and do that to the best of my ability. Iyer is very clear on the field.
Chasing a paltry score, Punjab Kings lost Prabhsimran Singh (13) and Priyansh Arya (16) early. And when Iyer was out for seven, PBKS were 52/3. Nehal Wadhera blazed to a 19-ball 33 not out as PBKS reached 98/5 in 12.1 overs and won the match by five wickets.
With this win, Punjab Kings moved to 10 points from five wins and two defeats in seven matches, placed second to Delhi Capitals, who have played a match less. RCB are on eight points from seven matches and in fourth place on the table.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 95/9 in 14 overs (Tim David 50 not out, Rajat Patidar 23; Marco Jansen 2-10, Yuzvendra Chahal 2-11) lost to Punjab Kings 98/5 in 12.1 overs (Nehal Wadhera 33 not out, Priyansh Arya 16; Josh Hazlewood 3-14, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-26) by five wickets
