Chahal, Arshdeep and Wadhera hand RCB third successive defeat at home

Horror for the batters, fantasy for the bowlers - it was a mash-up of genres at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday night and it kept the viewer guessing. The climax went the way of Punjab Kings (PBKS) thanks to Nehal Wadhera's sparkling unbeaten 33 off 19 balls. The heavy lifting, though, was done by their bowlers after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and put RCB in to bat in the rain-affected 14-overs-a-side affair.

Arshdeep Singh bowled consistent lengths, Yuzvendra Chahal was back to looping the ball and looking for spin, and Marco Jansen used his height to good effect. Together, they reduced RCB to 42 for 7. RCB could have been bowled out for under 49, their lowest total, but Tim David's 26-ball 50 not out ensured they nearly doubled that and that they weren't bowled out.

Josh Hazlewood made a modest chase of 96 tougher than it seemed on a pitch that offered steep bounce. PBKS might have feared being hit by a comeback similar to the one they delivered to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) three days ago, but they didn't rush the chase and were able to target bowlers in the end, which got them through.

After being asked bat and with not 20 overs to play with, RCB looked to get off to a positive start. Phil Salt drove the first ball down the ground for four. Cross-batted and aerial shots were fraught with danger right from the start. Both Salt and Virat Kohli were out pulling, the former off a length ball and the latter to a shorter ball after walking down the pitch.

Arshdeep, who came into this game with two powerplay wickets this season, doubled his tally.

Rajat Patidar whipped Arshdeep and Xavier Bartlett for a four and a six over the leg side, while Liam Livingstone looked to end the four-over powerplay on a high. He charged at Bartlett and was out trying to slap a length ball, with Priyansh Arya running back from cover point to take the catch.

RCB's were reduced to 26 for 3. Jitesh Sharma swung at Jansen but was beaten both times and, in the following over, Patidar top-edged a pull off Chahal which landed safely at midwicket. Jitesh wasn't as lucky next ball as he found deep backward square with a slog sweep.

Two balls later, Krunal Pandya was the third batter out on the pull. He couldn't extend his arms fully and feathered a shortish ball from Jansen onto his helmet and it popped right up for a caught and bowled. DRS helped PBKS as RCB were 33 for 5.

Chahal, who was back to slowing down his speeds and teasing the batter, struck again by looping the ball wide of Patidar's off stump and having him slash to long-off. RCB's ploy to send in Manoj Bhandage as the Impact Player didn't work as he was beaten on the flick by Jansen and dismissed lbw.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and David stitched a 21-run stand for the eighth wicket, taking RCB past fifty, before Harpreet Brar dismissed Bhuvneshwar and Yash Dayal off successive balls, leaving RCB at 63 for 9 in 11.5 overs.

David then nailed a few expansive shots at the end. He went deep in the crease to pull Bartlett for two fours. He farmed strike to face the final over, bowled by Brar, and smashed three successive sixes, including one off a no-ball, to reach his fifty and lift RCB to 95 for 9.

The chase started with a few early jitters for PBKS. Prabhsimran Singh missed a scoop and a swipe off Bhuvneshwar in the first over. Arya then edged a cover drive off Dayal over first slip in the next over.

A top edge off a swipe across the line from Prabhsimran off Bhuvneshwar fell safely at square leg to start the third. Prabhsimran connected with a couple of drives after that but miscued a flat-bat hit to mid-off when the bowler shortened his length. Arya was out in similar fashion off Hazlewood in the following over as PBKS were reduced to 33 for 2.

Josh Inglis and Shreyas were happy to play out a couple of quiet overs and only go after poor balls. Krunal delivered a couple of those in the sixth over when he drove the ball into the pitch, allowing Inglis to pull and cut.

Hazlewood, though, used his height to generate extra bounce to dismiss both batters on the cut. The ball zipped off a length to have Shreyas caught behind. The one to Inglis was shorter and went off the top edge to deep third. PBKS were 53 for 4, needing 43 off 36 balls.

Suyash Sharma's attempt to bowl for wickets with a drop in pace and consistent lengths beat Wadhera four times when he was new to the crease. But the batter got a reverse between short third and backward point before plonking one over cow corner.

Hazlewood continued to be unhittable and gave away just two runs off the tenth over. He banged the ball into the pitch and nearly had Shashank Singh caught behind on the cut. He finished for 3 for 14 in three overs.

Suyash couldn't build the pressure as he overpitched and Wadhera reached out and hit him over long-off. He then pierced the gap in the off-side infield with a scorching drive. Luck, too, went against RCB as a ripping legbreak beat Wadhera's cover drive and the keeper to race to the boundary.

The crowd tried to pump life into the game when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Shashank, but those hopes were dashed by Wadhera, who first picked up a shortish ball over fine leg for six and then slapped a length ball on the up through the covers.

Marcus Stoinis, who replaced Glenn Maxwell for PBKS, finished the game with a cross-bat hit over long-on and handed RCB a hat-trick of losses at home in IPL 2025.