IPL 2021: Turning point of RCB vs PBKS game

Another day, another collapse, another run-chase went wrong for Punjab Kings. You have to feel bad for KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Today was the eighth time when the pair got the team a 50-plus stand but ended up in the losing dressing room. At the post-match presentation, an exhausted Rahul was asked when did his side lose the momentum, to which he responded that he feels Royal Challengers Bangalore got 10-15 runs more than what they should have. 

Looking from a distance, that isn’t a bad point. In the last four games in Sharjah, the team batting first has scored 129, 134, 127 and 125. Given that fact, Bangalore’s total of 164 for 7 seemed a bit too much. Courtesy of Glenn Maxwell’s 57 runs from 33 balls, RCB finished with an above-par score. The wicket had to slow down, but Rahul and Agarwal seemed to be batting on a different pitch.

The pair put up 81 runs in the first 10 overs. At this moment, the required rate was still manageable. They needed 84 runs from 60 balls, which was reduced to 74 runs from 56 balls. That is when Bangalore got the big wicket of Rahul. The Punjab Kings skipper tried to take the attack on Shahbaz Ahmed going downtown, but an outside edge saw him getting caught by Harshal Patel. 

Yuzvendra Chahal enters, conquers and leaves Punjab Kings in all sorts of troubles

The score was 92 for 1 in 11 overs. This is when Virat Kohli pulled his bag of tricks, bringing in Yuzvendra Chahal. Sensing a chance of an opening, RCB went hard at Punjab and much like their other matches, the Kings started sliding down. Chahal got Nicholas Pooran but Mayank was still there with five overs to go. 

By now, the required rate had climbed beyond 10 and the pressure was telling on Punjab Kings. Not being able to get the boundary, Agarwal went for an adventurous shot and ended up handing over the wicket to Chahal. The leg-spinner picked up Sarfaraz Khan in the very same over, as the equation went to 44 runs required from the last four overs. George Garton picked up the wicket of Aiden Markram in the next over and by now, the choking was evident and everyone knew it was happening once again for Punjab Kings. They eventually fell short by six runs.