IPL 2021: Match 48, RCB vs PBKS – Who Said What

The 48^th match of the IPL 2021 saw the light of the day between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB won the game by six runs in an absolute thriller towards the end. While owning the toss, Virat Kohli and his men chose to show up with the willows first to have an upper hand in the game. The skipper had to return after scoring just 25 runs as his stay was cut short by Moises Henriques who operated on a terrific level today.

However, Kohli’s partner Devdutt Padikkal stood tall in the situation to add fruitful 40 runs from his bat. However, the main storm of runs for RCB was brought in by Glenn Maxwell who is quite back to his element nowadays. He smashed a classy half-century to push RCB post a modest total of 164 on the board. Henriques picked three wickets while giving just 12 runs in his four overs and was partnered by Shami who also had three under his name, being a little costlier. Maxwell was also declared as the player of the match.

RCB make a stunning comeback against PBKS

As PBKS began their chase game, they didn’t flinch an eye as openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal put their foot forward for a dreamy start. PBKS lost their first wicket on 91 runs as their game looked absolutely clean and full of intent. Rahul’s 39 off 35 ended when Shahbaz Ahmed grabbed first success for Bangalore. It was looking all good until Agarwal (57 off 42) was on work for his team.

However, everything shattered for them thereafter and they lost the contest by six runs. Yuzvendra Chahal was stunning yet again for his side while he conceded just 29 runs and picked three wickets.

Losing skipper, KL Rahul said-

I wouldn’t say I haven’t enjoyed wearing it (the Orange Cap) but I would have been happier if we had qualified. It was a score that was par. Maybe 10-15 runs extra. When a guy like Maxwell comes in with that sort of form, it makes it difficult. But with the bat, the last couple of years have been disappointing. If I have to be honest, our batting has let us down. I’ll be lying if I say it doesn’t play on my mind that I play a role that the team demands. It’s not something that I enjoy, but when you lead the team, you have to accept the responsibility. In T20, the top two or three do score a bulk of the runs. You won’t have people in the middle order scoring 500-600 runs. But we have missed someone in the middle who scores those 30-40 quick runs. Shahrukh and some of the other Indian young guys have been going well.”

Winning skipper, Virat Kohli said-

Feels amazing. After 2011, we haven’t done it with games to spare. Eight wins out of 12 games is a great campaign. We have two more opportunities to finish in the top two. Should give us motivation to play even more fearlessly. When you don’t have any wickets on the scoreboard, you can take more risks. Which myself and Dev [Padikkal] have to. 15-20 runs on this ground can be crucial. We have to plug those areas. As a side, we have had an endeavour to improve, whether in losses or wins. We knew the wicket would get slower and slower. KL and Mayank batted really well, but we knew we were just two wickets from coming back into the game. (On the bowlers) The resurgence of Siraj, ever since he has done well in Test cricket. Harshal’s inclusion has been outstanding. Yuzi has chipped in, as has Shahbaz. Garton has come in. If the players don’t step up, then the campaign goes off track.”

Player of the match, Glenn Maxwell said-

Came in at a nice time to bat. Lucky to hit the first couple of risks out of the middle. I feel like the last two years of IPL I have batted nicely. To have it set up by the openers today gave us some time to get an idea of the wicket. Coming into RCB they wanted me to do the exact same role (as with Australia). This (Sharjah) is probably the most difficult to adjust to. The spinners get it to skid on which means you have to be sharper at the start of your innings.”