‘Punjab played like Kings today’ – Twitter praises Punjab after they hand a crushing defeat to Bangalore

Punjab and Bangalore locked horns in the 60th game of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The Faf du Plessis-led side won the toss and elected to bowl first. It is to be noted that the conditions were batting-friendly, as there was a flat track on offer. Little did Bangalore know what they would be dealing with in the next few overs. Opposition openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow, provided a great start with a partnership of 60 runs in five overs.

Dhawan (12) was the first wicket to fall as he was clean bowled against Glenn Maxwell trying to play the sweep shot. Two overs later, Bhanuka Rajapksa (1) was caught at backward point by Harshal Patel. Rajapaksa was trying to play the inside-out shot against his fellow Sri Lankan, Wanindu Hasaranga. On the other hand, Bairstow scored got to his half-century n just 21 balls.

He went on to score 66 off 29 balls including seven sixes and four fours before he was caught at backward point by Mohammed Siraj off Shahbaz Ahmed. Liam Livingstone scored 70 off 42 balls including five fours and four sixes and took the team to 209/9. For the three-time finalists, Hasaranga was economical with a spell of 4-0-15-2 and Harshal Patel took four for 34 runs as well. In reply, the Bangalore-based franchise started well with the retaliation job.

Virat Kohli looked like getting back to his best with 20 off 14 including two fours and a six. However, his innings was cut short trying to play the pull shot over fine leg, only to get caught at short fine by Rahul Chahar off Kagiso Rabada in the third over of the chase. In the next over, skipper Du Plessis (10) was caught behind by Jitesh Sharma off Rishi Dhawan.

In came Mahipal Lomror (6) who hit a second-ball six in the same over but was caught trying to do the same. At 40/3, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar stitched a partnership of 64 runs in just 5.1 overs to resurrect the innings. Patidar scored 26 off 21 before he was caught at long-on by Shikhar Dhawan off Rahul Chahar in the 11th over. The next over saw Maxwell (35 off 22) being caught at long-off by Arshdeep Singh off Harpreet Brar.

The twin strikes were the turning point for the team as they went from 104/3 to 155/9, losing the game by 54 runs.

This is how Twitter reacted