A scintillating knock of 88 on his captaincy and franchise debut from Faf du Plessis for Bangalore went in vain on Sunday night as Punjab prevailed in a high-scoring contest played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, in the Match No 3 of the ongoing Indian T20 Cricket League 2022.
After Bangalore posted a huge total of 205/2 in their 20 overs, Punjab produced a combined batting effort to get over the finish line scoring 208/5 with one over to spare.
Both the teams had waded into the unknown as the venue DY Patil Stadium was hosting its first ever match of the Indian T20 Cricket League after a gap of more than a decade, but by the end of it, everyone was convinced that the surface is meant for high scoring cricket with minimal support to all types of bowlers.
Du Plessis led an onslaught on the Punjab bowlers as after seeing off initial few deliveries to assess the pitch and understand its nature, he played a knock resembling the many impactful innings that he played for his former franchise Chennai until last year.
The former South Africa captain hammered as many as 7 sixes and 6 boundaries to make 88 from only 57 balls, stitching many crucial partnerships along the way.
With his new opening partner, Delhi wicketkeeper-batsman Anuj Rawat, Du Plessis added 50 runs from 42 balls whereas he truly enjoyed the company of the former Bangalore and India captain V Kohliii.
Du Plessis and Kohlii turned up the heat on Punjab bowlers as they put on a rapid stand of 118 runs from only 61 balls for the second wicket to put Bangalore right on top of the contest.
While it was unfortunate for Du Plessis to have missed out on a deserving century, there was no let up by the Bangalore batsmen as far as run scoring was concerned.
Kohlii could not bring up his half-century but he finished with a brilliant 41 not out from 29 balls with the help of 2 sixes and a boundary, whereas the former Kolkata captain and India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was belligerent in his knock, making 32 not out from just 14 balls with the help of 3 sixes and as many boundaries.
Amid all the mayhem caused by Du Plessis and company with the bat, India legspinner Rahul Chahar was impressive as he returned with 4-0-22-1, signalling that the pitch at DY Patil might just be helpful for spin bowling more than for fast bowling.
Punjab needed a strong reply and the new pair of captain Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan provided exactly that.
In just 7.1 overs, Agarwal and Dhawan added 71 runs for the opening wicket to set Punjab on their way, and even though they kept losing wickets on a regular basis, there was never a point in the game when they looked like losing the plot.
Agarwal made 32 from 24 balls with the help of 2 sixes and as many boundaries, whereas Dhawan too was unfortunate to have missed out on a deserving half-century as he fell for 43 from 29 balls with the help of 5 fours and a six.
Playing his first match in the Indian T20 Cricket League, Sri Lanka cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa was extremely impressive as he batted with command and precision to make 43 from just 22 balls, swatting 4 sixes and a couple of boundaries in the process. Like Dhawan, he too was unfortunate to have not completed his fifty.
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone give a good example of himself making 19 from 10 balls with 2 sixes but he perished while looking for a big hit against Mohammed Siraj, who did not allow the 2022 India Under-19 World Cup winner Raju Bawa to open his account, dismissing the youngster for a first-ball duck with a brilliant full toss that kept dipping on the batsmen to hit him right in front of the wickets
Despite regular fall of wickets, Punjab did not look like losing hope as their pair of Shahrukh Khan, the famous hard-hitting batsman from Tamil Nadu, and Odean Smith helped them get past the finish line with an over to spare and 5 wickets in hand.
Shahrukh Khan and Smith added 52 runs unbeaten for the 6th wicket to hand Punjab their first win of the season. Shahrukh Khan remained unbeaten on 24 from 20 balls which included 2 sixes and a boundary whereas Smith was absolutely ruthless with the bat, displaying his Caribbean flair and nature of batting by hammering 3 sixes and a boundary to make 25 not out from just 8 balls.
Punjab will want to draw more confidence from this victory as they will next face last year's finalists and a team that defeated Chennai in the first match this year, Kolkata, on April 1 in the evening game. On the other hand, Bangalore will look to bounce back against Kolkata when the two teams meet on March 30.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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