RCB vs PBKS

That brings us to the end of our coverage for this match. With this win, Punjab Kings move to the second spot on the points table. Royal Challengers Bengaluru are now placed fourth, but there isn't a huge difference between them and the three teams immediately below them. Remember, these teams face-off again in less than 40 hours time. But before that, we have a double header lined up for tomorrow. In the afternoon, Gujarat Giants will lock horns with Delhi Capitals and in the evening, Rajasthan Royals will play Lucknow Super Giants. We will be there to call the action. For now, it is the pair of Darpan Tikiya and Bidipto Datta, signing off. Sayonara!

Tim David is the Player of the Match. He says: "Batting was not easy. The boys who batted up top communicated what the wicket was doing. I tried to work out a plan and it came off. The squad has been build for a reason and I have a roll to play. I am happy to bat where they want me. If on days like this, I get more balls to face, I will try to score runs and then, maybe I can ask the question (of being moved up in the batting order). You had to manage the risk a little bit in that situation. It has been tough to win at home. Every time we have faced different conditions. Tonight, the rain altered the conditions. If I was Punjab, I would be worried because we go to their home ground now." 

Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings captain): "We are riding the spice of life and we are able to experience all kinds of games. It is quite a challenge. There was no thinking. I was just making instinctive moves. The idea was to not let the new batter get in easily. Marco Jansen bowled really well. We did not know what to expect off the wicket. The word was that the hard length deliveries were difficult to hit and I think we executed well. I had a chat with Chahal and told him that he needs to be a wicket-taker. He is probably the best bowler in the IPL so far. Wadhera was impressive. You always need one batter to take charge. His intent was wonderful."

12:24 AM IST | Hang around for the post-match presentation. We will bring you the name of all the award winners and the quotes from the winning skipper and the Player of the Match. Till then, feel free to scroll below Rajat Patidar's quote and read through the summary of the match.

Marco Jansen (2/10 off 3 overs in the 1st innings): "There was a bit of pace and a bit of bounce on the wicket tonight and I enjoyed bowling on it! Everyone has a role to play in a team, so, I just try and do that to the best of my ability. I like opening the bowling, but we do have a couple of bowlers who can swing it, so I don't mind coming in first change. Shreyas Iyer is a smart captain. The communication is clear, and that makes the work much easier. Feeling really good by my body, there are no issues at the moment. Yuzvendra Chahal is a fine bowler. And he gets helped too if we give him a good start, so that is our lookout every time." 

Rajat Patidar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain): "Initially it was two-paced, but I think we could have done far better with the bat. Important for us to string together partnerships, and again, we could not stitch them together. We had to leave Devdutt Padikkal out due to the conditions actually. The wicket was under the covers for a long time, Punjab bowled well too, but, we should have put more runs on the board. The bowling unit is doing really well, there is a lot of confidence among the bowlers. The batting too has been filled with intent, but, we need to take a look in at that." 

12:13 AM IST | Punjab Kings win by 5 wickets.

Nehal Wadhera 33* (19) | Marco Jansen 2/10 (3)
Tim David 50* (26) | Josh Hazlewood 3/14 (3)

With the rain gods deciding to attend IPL's 18th birthday bash, the RCB fans waited an eternity for the match to begin. They would have hummed a silent prayer to the weather gods and perhaps, even chanted "rain rain go away" (many in our comment section did). But it would have not taken long for those chants to turn into pleas of bringing the rain back. Such was the manner in which the first innings panned out.

There was no dearth of intent to score, as you would expect in a 14-over game. Phil Salt drilled the first ball for four, despite it tailing inwards in a fashion that would have made a new ball bowler lick his lips. But PBKS bowlers were smart. Despite there being some moisture in the air, which aided some movement, they did not give into the temptation of bowling too full. They kept on dragging the ball back every now and then, using the bounce on offer on this hard wicket. RCB batters swung hard, miscued a number of shots and kept getting themselves out.

The dreaded "49" became the fulcrum of conversations, Jansen and Chahal bowled 6 overs in tandem, unchanged — not common in a 14-over match. That is how dominant the visiting team was. Until, Tim David decided to show his mettle. He batted smartly, respecting the good balls, but punished anything remotely loose using those powerful forearms of his. Towards the end, he had hit mode turbo and Harpreet Brar bore the brunt of it. The last three legal balls yielded 21 runs and that helped add some respectability to RCB's total.

Then, Josh Hazlewood delivered an excellent spell, which made it look even challenging at one point in the run chase. The tall seamer used the steep bounce on offer to good effect and accounted for the crucial wickets of Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis. However, in the end, Nehal Wadhera's stubborn knock of 33* (19) helped PBKS cross the finish line with considerable amount of time to spare. His start was not ideal, but he picked up the right deliveries to attack and did not exhibit any half-heartedness when he went for the big shots. Marcus Stoinis, who had been dropped from the team for the last game, hit the winning runs.

12.1 Yash Dayal to Marcus Stoinis, over the wicket, PUNJAB KINGS WIN THIS! Good length around off-stump. Stoinis hung back and absolutely slammed it across the line over deep mid-wicket for a maximum! 

11.6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Nehal Wadhera, FOUR RUNS! Back of a length outside off. Cut away on top of the bounce off the back foot in front of square out towards the vacant deep extra cover area. 

11.5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Nehal Wadhera, SIX RUNS! TOP SHOT! Back of a length on leg-and-middle. Nehal gets inside the line and shovels it over fine-leg off the back foot! 

11.4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Marcus Stoinis, Oh! Good length on off-stump with some extra bounce. Edged down to third man off the back foot for a single.