Odean seals the deal as Punjab Kings ace steep chase
RCB's slow start proved the difference between the sides, even if du Plessis made up for it during his 57-ball 88
RCB's slow start proved the difference between the sides, even if du Plessis made up for it during his 57-ball 88
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: @sreshthx
And that's all from us tonight. Tomorrow, its the two new teams of the IPL taking each other on. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of Super Sunday. See you tomorrow, fellow cricket fans! Ta-da.
11.37pm Time for the presentation.
Odean Smith is the Player of the Match for his eight-ball 25: "We were stressing on having a good start. It was all about belief that once we had a good start we had the power in the back end. I didn't go so well with the bowling, have a few stuff to work on. But from batting, it was good since I helped my team to get home. It was all about execution. My execution wasn't on point with the ball, that's why it went haywire. Punjab Kings haven't won a title yet, so its all about belief at the start of the competition. We watched a motivational movie - 14 peaks. This was the first peak, 13 more to go."
Mayank Agarwal: "Two points very important. Very good wicket for batting and we batted exceedingly well. It also became a lot easier to bat second due to dew. But credit to the way we finished - we held our nerves and took the right chances. Glad it came off. I thought we gave them 15-20 more. The way Faf and Virat batted, I thought they took the game away for us. Its a lot to do with the batting depth but we trust the skills. We've made it clear in the dressing room that whoever is out there is good enough. If it doesn't come off it doesn't come off.
Tinura: "Maybe I am biased here, but IPL missed the unique flair of SL batters for too long. Hope Bhanuka can be the start of a new trend of SL batters again playing in IPL."
Bhanuka Rajapaksa: (thinking at the start of batting) What we thought was that we would have a free hand. Wanindu is my team-mate and I knew how to handle him. Shikhar asked me to be aggressive even if I was new. Its about knowing Wanindu and playing him. Know him for 4-5 years, just brought my local knowledge in. Such a big confidence booster for us. We had a theory. We wanted a movie called 14 peaks (about mountaineer Nirmal Purja who climbed the highest 14 mountains in the world inside a year) to get motivated. We gave 130 runs in the last 8-9 overs, that's somewhere we can improve."
Manu Ajmani: "Come to think of it, even a score of 205 is not safe anymore. Punjab chased it down with 6 balls to spare. Brilliant hitting at the back end. RCB's bowling letting them down yet again!"
Sujit: "Tough on harshal but his missed runout of Smith was the moment of the match. "
Faf du Plessis: We probably dropped Odean on 10, and he's a really powerful hitter. You need to hold on to your chances. Cliche: catches win matches. Dew out there, small margins. Punjab had a really good powerplay. Ball skidded more in the second innings. I know what Odean Smith can do to you so you need to hold on to your chances. (on his own batting) I thought it was quite tough in the beginning. The ball was swinging. Pleasing to get through."
11.19pm Two classic games in the first Super Sunday of IPL 2022. Always remember that it takes two to Tango, and this dramatic chase is also thanks to the runs scored by Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik in the first innings. Dhawan, Rajapaksa and Mayank gave Punjab Kings a flourishing start before getting out, Livingstone and Bawa were out in consecutive balls, and right at the end it was Shahrukh Khan - bought back by Punjab Kings at the auction after not being retained - and IPL debutant Odean Smith (their INR 6 crore pick) who turned the team's fortunes around at the back end. Their 25-ball partnership of 52 absolutely blew RCB's bowlers away at the back end, with Siraj going for 59. Time for some reactions.
Vivek: "Smith made sure he is not the one going back with highest economy in this match."
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