Punjab Kings Clinch Fifth Win, Defeat RCB by 5 Wickets in Rain-Hit IPL Clash

Punjab Kings secured their fifth win of the IPL season with a 5-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Chasing a modest target of 96 runs, Punjab reached the goal in 12.1 overs, losing five wickets in the process. This marked yet another disappointing home defeat for RCB at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Punjab lost both openers early—Prabhsimran Singh for 13 and Priyansh Arya for 16—with the score at 32. Captain Shreyas Iyer fell for 7, and Josh Inglis followed soon after with 14. At 53/4, Punjab was in a spot of bother.

However, Nehal Wadhera steadied the innings with a match-winning knock of 33* off 19 balls, smashing 3 fours and 3 sixes to seal the win with 11 balls to spare.

On the bowling front, Josh Hazlewood picked up 3 wickets for just 14 runs in his 3 overs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed 2 wickets.

Earlier, due to rain, the match was reduced to 14 overs per side. Punjab won the toss and opted to field first.

RCB had a terrible outing with the bat, collapsing to 95/9 in 14 overs. At one point, they were reeling at 42/7, with none of the top order managing to stay at the crease. Openers Phil Salt (4) and Virat Kohli (1) fell cheaply, followed by Liam Livingstone (4), Jitesh Sharma (2), Krunal Pandya (1), and Manoj Bhandage (1) Captain Rajat Patidar scored 23 off 18 balls, hitting one four and one six. It was debutant Tim David who rescued RCB from total collapse, scoring an unbeaten 50 off 26 balls, including 5 fours and 3 sixes. He added 21 runs in the final over alone.

Punjab’s bowlers were exceptional. Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Harpreet Brar all took 2 wickets each. This win takes Punjab to 10 points from 7 matches, moving them up to second place in the league table. Meanwhile, RCB has now lost 3 of their 7 games and drops to fourth place with 8 points.