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Cricket

'Tumse na ho paega'- fans unhappy with Bangalore as they miss a golden chance of reaching the playoffs after losing to Punjab by 54 runs

Bangalore suffered a 54-run defeat at the hands of Punjab only to make things hard for themselves in the race for the playoffs.

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Punjab

Punjab: (Image Source: BCCI/IPL)

Punjab are still in the hunt of making a top-four finish as they beat Bangalore by 54 runs on Friday at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Mayank Agarwal and Co. registered their 6th win of the season and move to number six on the points table.

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Bangalore, on the other hand, remain at number four with 7 wins in 13 matches. They would be keen to win their last game and with a big margin. They could have win the game today as well, given the kind of fire-power they had in the batting department. However, it didn't click. In pursuit of a 209-run score, Bangalore got a pretty good start. Virat Kohli had hit two fours and a six and was batting at 18 off 12.

Bangalore had amassed 31 in the first three overs. However, the arrival of Kagiso Rabada meant Virat Kohli (20 off 14), once again, failed to play a big knock with the bat. Rishi Dhawan then had Faf du Plessis (10 off 8) caught behind and Lomror (6 off 3) caught at mid-wicket in the 5th over to leave Bangalore in all sorts of trouble at 41 for 3 in 5 overs.

However, Glenn Maxwell then joined hands with Rajat Patidar and the duo stitched a 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket to revive the innings. Both the batsmen played shots and kept the required rate in check. RCB were 95 for 3 at the half way stage.

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However, Punjab, once again, pulled it back in the next five overs. Rahul Chahar got rid of Rajat Patidar (26 off 21) on the last ball of the 11th over. One ball later, Harpreet Brar had Glenn Maxwell (35 off 22) caught at long off. Wickets fell at regular intervals, thereafter, and Punjab, in the end, restricted Bangalore to 155 runs at the end of the second innings.

Earlier, Punjab notched a mammoth score of 209 runs in the first innings. Man-in-form, Jonny Bairstow smashed his second consecutive half-century on Friday. He gave them a tremendous start. Bairstow looked to take on the bowlers right from the onset of his innings, while Shikhar Dhawan was happy to play as the second fiddle.

Hazlewood had a forgettable night today as he went for runs from his very first over itself. Bairstow smashed Hazlewood for two sixes and two fours in just the second over of the innings. Dhawan got out on the final ball of the fifth over off Maxwell but Bairstow smacked Siraj 3 sixes and 1 four to finish the power play at 83 for 1 after 6 overs.

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Bangalore, though, pulled things back a little in the next six overs. They got the wicket of Rajapaksa (1) and Bairstow in the 7th and 10th over respectively. However, Jonny Bairstow had done enough damage by then. He scored a sensational knock of 66 runs in just 29 balls to help his team reach 105 runs after just 10 overs.

Harshal Patel and W Hasaranga didn’t allow Punjab to increase the scoring rate as they kept taking wickets regularly. However, Liam Livingstone wreaked havoc with the bat at the other end. He played a sensational knock in the latter half of the innings.

Barring Hasaranga, Livingstone hammered all the other bowlers to all parts of the ground. He went on to score a brilliant knock of 70 runs in 42 balls, helping the team reach a mammoth score on the board.

Here's a look at some of the notable reactions from the game:

 

Virat Kohli Royal Challengers Bangalore Punjab Kings Faf du Plessis Jonnt Bairstow Dinesh Karthik Wanindu Hasaranga