New Delhi: Punjab Kings batters failed to rise to the occasion in the all-important Qualifier 1 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Sent in to bat by RCB skipper Rajat Patidar, the home side were blown away by the visiting pace attack before spinner Suyash Sharma rubbed the salt in the wounds of the PBKS batters with a magnificent spell of spin bowling.
Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal got things going for RCB with a prized wicket of Priyansh Arya – one of the breakout stars of this season – in the second over.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar then got rid of Prabhsimran Singh – another in-form batter – in the next over as RCB nullified another massive threat.
RCB leave PBKS in tatters
Things got even worse for the home side when skipper Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 2 by comeback man Josh Hazlewood, who again got into the act in his second over with another big wicket. The tall pacer got rid of his Aussie compatriot Josh Inglis as PBKS lost four wickets inside the powerplay.
Nehal Wadhera was the next batter to go as Dayal came back to continue the wicket rush. By the time PBKS reached 50, they had lost half their side – the lowest score for them at the fall of the 5th wicket this season.
Suyash complemented the pace attack with a double-wicket over, dismissing Shashank Singh and Impact Player Musheer Khan in the space of three deliveries.
With wickets tumbling at one end, Stoinis kept fighting at the other with some lusty blows, but any hopes of a PBKS revival were ended in the 11th over by Suyash, who bagged his third after dismissing Stoinis for 26 as the hosts lost their eighth wicket for 78 in the 11th over.
In the end, PBKS were bowled out for 101 in the 15th over as RCB produced one of their best performances on the field in IPL history.
Hazlewood and Suyash picked up three wickets each while Dayal bagged two scalps.
Earlier, Patidar returned to lead Challengers, who made one change, bringing in Josh Hazlewood in place of Nuwan Thushara. Meanwhile, PBKS replaced Marco Jansen with Azmatullah Omarzai.
PBKS produced one of the worst performances in the history of the Indian Premier league after being bowled out for 101 in 11.1 overs in Qualifier 1 vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
