After a long rain delay, Punjab Kings won the toss and expectedly decided to bowl first. Shreyas Iyer’s decision was instantly rewarded as Arshdeep scalped the wickets of Phil Salt (4) and Virat Kohli (1) in consecutive overs. Liam Livingstone (4) and Jitesh Sharma (2) did not trouble the scores too much either as Xavier Bartlett and Yuzvendra Chahal added to their wicket tallies for the season as well. With the first six overs yielding a mere 33 runs, RCB decided to send in Krunal Pandya. While the all rounder lasted just two balls, Rajat Patidar’s 18-ball 23 came to an end when he holed out to Bartlett off Chahal’s bowling. With RCB running out of batters, Manoj Bhandage came in as the impact sub but he was back in the hut four balls later with the scoreboard reading 42/6. As wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Tim David tried his best to keep the scoreboard ticking, getting the score to 63/9 by the end of the 12th over. David put on a show for the crowd in the last two overs as he took Bartlett for 11 runs before smashing Harpreet Brar for three consecutive sixes to set Punjab a target of 96 off 14 overs.
With conditions assisting bowlers, Punjab decided against a reserved approach as Priyansh Arya and Prabsimran scored at a run a ball in the first two overs to ease any nerves. The tactic led to an 11 run over but cost the visitors their opening wicket. As Hazelwood came in for his first over, he got rid of Arya to leave Punjab at 33/2 in four overs. With a foothold in the game, Bengaluru tightened the screws conceding at just a run a ball over the next three overs. The hosts were handed another lifeline when the Aussie dismissed Iyer (7) and Josh Inglis (14) in a space of three balls. However, with Suyash Sharma being smoked for 15 runs by Nehal Wadhera, Punjab were left needing just 16 off the last three overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent Shashank Singh packing in the 11th over but Wadhera stood tall to ensure a five wicket win.
Ego won!!!!
RCB lost it again🫠 https://t.co/M5zgKsKn6I— Anubhav (@bhav12rathi) April 18, 2025
RCB for you
— 🐉 (@SundarHive) April 18, 2025
Really?
man these guys wouldn’t have scored even as much as what rcb did had they batted first, but our toss luck is in gutter
— // (@vibessfc) April 18, 2025
Oh god!
Rcb looser
— dwivedi D🇮🇳 (@ico_rank) April 18, 2025
RCB Bowling ❌
Lose balls ✅— CK (@Masale_Dose) April 18, 2025
RCB forever?
Clowns still chanting RCB RCB 😭
— ✨Prakrati✨Live n Let Live ✨❤️ (@PrakratiKunder) April 18, 2025
LOL! Moye moye here!
#RCBvsPBKS
Pure emotion in RCB fans right now pic.twitter.com/o2CJ11aihN— Rahul (@BizNitiRahul) April 18, 2025
chinnaswamy playing the rcb rcb recordings might be the most shameless thing ever.
— Poojith (@Poojith16_09) April 18, 2025
He justcame and trashed everything!
MI blood Wadhera destroyed all hopes of RCB 😔
— Ani (@annakacarrom) April 18, 2025
It is an emotion bhai!
Lagbhag sare cricketing accounts ne ‘RCB have crossed 50 runs’ tweet kiya hai
Gajab ka craze hai bhai.— Akash Dubey (@Im_akash7331) April 18, 2025
