Agency, April 20: Royal Challengers Bangalore secured their fifth win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season with a commanding 7-wicket victory over Punjab Kings on Sunday afternoon, propelling them into the top four of the points table.
In the match held in Mullanpur, Punjab Kings, after losing the toss and being put in to bat, posted a total of 157 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Prabhsimran Singh top-scored with 33 runs, followed by Shashank Singh with 31, Josh Inglis with 29, Marco Jansen with 25, and Priyansh Arya contributing 22 runs.
For Bangalore, Krunal Pandya was the standout bowler, picking up 2 wickets. Romario Shepherd also chipped in with a wicket.
Chasing a target of 158 runs, Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the mark in 18.5 overs with the loss of just 3 wickets. Star batter Virat Kohli led from the front with a superb 73 off 54 balls, which included 7 fours and a six. Devdutt Padikkal provided excellent support with 61 runs, while Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma added 12 and 11 runs respectively.
Punjab’s bowling attack managed only three wickets, with Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, and Yuzvendra Chahal taking one each.
With this win, Bangalore moved up to third place on the points table with 10 points from 8 matches. Despite having the same number of points from as many matches, Punjab slipped down to fourth due to a lower net run rate.
