Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Karn Sharma celebrates the wicket of Rilee Rossouw, one of his two victims on the night•BCCI
RCB’s spinners make big inroads
Before that Kohli run out, however, legspinner Karn and left-arm spinner Swapnil had made vital strikes as well. Swapnil removed Prabhsimran Singh in the first over of the innings, before coming back in the middle overs to get Liam Livingstone lamely offer a leading edge into the covers.
Karn took two big wickets too. He first had the opposition’s best batter Rilee Rossouw caught at long-on in the ninth over, and then bowled a big, juicy legbreak that clattered into Jitesh’s stumps in the 11th over.
But Punjab Kings had started well…
Although they would fall well short, PBKS did look capable of chasing down 242 at the start. They made 75 in the powerplay, thanks largely to Rossouw, who had clobbered seven fours and a six while the fielding restrictions were in place.
Rossouw continued to blast RCB’s seam bowlers in particular, motoring his way to a 21-ball half-century, before Karn eventually got him. Jonny Bairstow’s 27 off 16, and Shashank’s knock were the other serious contributors.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf