Dharamshala: In the 64th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) played in Dharamshala, the beautiful ground of Himachal, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 60 runs. This is RCB’s fourth consecutive win. With this win, RCB kept its playoff hopes alive. Whereas Punjab Kings is almost out of the race for playoffs. In this match, RCB’s star player Virat Kohli played a brilliant inning of 92 runs in 47 balls.
Royal Challengers Bangalore batted first, with the help of Virat Kohli’s 92 and Rajat Patidar’s 55 runs, RCB scored 241 for 7 wickets, which is their fourth highest total in the tournament. Chasing the target, Punjab team was all out for 181 runs in 17 overs. PBKS were expected to reach the target after a 65-run partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Riley Rossouw. But apart from Rossouw (61 runs), none of the PBKS batsmen could face the challenge.
Whereas RCB made a great start in their defense and on the fourth ball, Swapnil Singh got Prabhsimran Singh out LBW. After this, Bairstow also left after scoring 27 runs. Riley Rossouw scored his first half-century of this tournament. Although Shashank looked to be in good form with 37, a direct throw from Kohli ended his innings. After that PBKS could not recover from the crisis. In this way RCB was successful in achieving another win.
On the other hand, with the victory of RCB, the tension of Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants has increased. The battle for the playoffs has now become more exciting. Now there will be a fight between these teams for one spot. If Bengaluru wins its remaining matches then it will have 14 points. However, Bengaluru will still have to depend on other teams to reach the playoffs.
Currently, Chennai Super Kings remains a playoff contender and can reach a maximum of 18 points. Apart from this, Delhi can also reach maximum 16 and Lucknow can reach maximum 16 points. These three teams currently have 12-12 points. Whereas Gujarat Titans can reach maximum 14 points. If luck favors Bengaluru, it can still reach the race for the playoffs.
