After hammering RCB with the bat, courtesy of special innings from Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone, PBKS were outstanding with the ball as they restricted RCB to just 155 and thrashed them by 54 runs. PBKS are still alive in the race for playoff qualification but with a huge defeat, RCB’s chances might have taken a big dent. We look at key moments from match 60 of the 2022 IPL.
Bairstow – An imposing IPL opener
Jonny Bairstow started this year’s IPL batting in the middle order. But after a few failures for him and Mayank Agarwal, who opened the innings for PBKS, Bairstow swapped places with Agarwal and was back as the opener.
Bairstow repaid the faith shown in him by smashing a 21-ball fifty inside the Powerplay, hitting seven sixes in the process. After his Player-of-the-match inning against RCB, Bairstow now averages 42.8 with the bat as an opener in IPL at a powerful strike rate of 143.4. At number three and four, he averages 14.6 and 33.5, respectively. PBKS have been spot on with their tactics of getting Bairstow back as the opener.
Hasaranga – Middle overs magician
Wanindu Hasarana has picked up 17 wickets in the middle overs of the innings (overs 7-15) – the most in this year’s IPL. Kuldeep Yadav, with 12 wickets, is the next best. Hasaranga has been the reason why RCB have dominated the middle-overs phase despite being poor in the Powerplays.
Hasaranga’s economy rate in the middle-overs is 7.06. Against PBKS, he was exceptional, going at just 4.0 RPO off his three overs. After being on the receiving end of the highest Powerplay score in this year’s IPL (83-1), Hasaranga was the biggest factor in bringing RCB back in the game with his leg-spin bowling.
The key to his bowling was his variations – both in his pace and bowling style. With long boundaries on one side, he wasn’t afraid to bowl the googlies even against the right-handers. Another major factor was him frequently targeting the stumps, and with him turning the ball both ways, the batters had to always stay switched on to pick him off his hands than the surface. Unfortunately, PBKS batters were not too good at it.
Harshal Patel’s death-overs special
Harshal Patel’s job at RCB has become clearer this season – bowl his entire quota of overs in the second half of the innings. He has had an indifferent season so far, but against PBKS, he was spot on, especially with his last two overs.
Tasked to bowl the 18th and 20th over, Patel conceded just 18 runs and picked up three wickets. It also included a dropped catch that cost him and his side six runs. Patel delivered this despite bowling against the odds – he had a set Livingstone at the other end and a shorter leg-side boundary to defend.
Patel countered the odds by coming round the wicket to the right-handers and bowling full and wide across the batter. His angle made it difficult for the batters to hit him against the line of the ball despite the shorter boundary. If it wasn’t for Harshal Patel’s death bowling, PBKS could have easily reached a score in excess of 220.