RCB end 17-year-long wait to win maiden IPL title

Royal Challengers Bengaluru, IPL champions. The 17-year-long wait was brought to an end by the Rajat Patidar-led side as RCB successfully defended their 190/9 against Punjab Kings in a six-run victory. Krunal Pandya, who has experienced the highs of an IPL title win thrice before and was the catalyst in 2017, put on yet another star turn with a championship-winning spell through the middle-overs (2-17) that left PBKS behind in chase.

Where the game was won:

In a game of small margins, PBKS fell behind having scored only 10 fewer than RCB in this period, leaving Shashank Singh and the lower-order with too much to get at the death against one of the better bowling attacks of the season.

The middle-overs difference:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

PowerPlay: Scratchy start for RCB

Phase score - 55/1 [RR: 9.17, 4s/6s: 5/2]

Phil Salt began by targeting the fine leg fence against Arshdeep Singh but fell in the second over from Kyle Jamieson after he mistimed a big hit. Shreyas Iyer backpedalled from mid-on, kept his eye on the ball and pouched it close to the boundary. Virat Kohli faced only 10 balls of the PowerPlay but Mayank Agarawal arrived at one-drop and made a streaky start and got a few shots going. PBKS came away as the better side with the ball moving a touch for the quicks.

Middle-overs: No batting fluency still as Kohli falls

Phase score - 77/3 [RR: 8.56, 4s/6s: 3/3]

Yuzvendra Chahal turned the screws right away. Mayank's slog sweep went straight to Arshdeep at deep backward square leg. The surface was once again conducive for change of pace. Kohli was in the middle of a scratchy start but put away a predictable slower bouncer from Azmatullah Omarzai for a four over the keeper. Patidar took on spin like he usually does, hitting Chahal for a six over mid-wicket. Jamieson also resorted to taking pace off the ball, a tactic he employed to great effect against Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier at this venue. He however, went the other direction to take out Patidar. After four slower balls of different lengths that Patidar managed to see off, Jamieson slipped in a full, straight delivery at 132kmph that the RCB captain missed and was out LBW.

To Kohli and a newly arrived Liam Livingstone, Chahal bowled an exceptional six-run over. RCB got stuck in a rut from the halfway stage but began to open right after the timeout. Livingstone and Kohli got 14 off Chahal but Omarzai lulled the RCB faithful into silence in the very next over. He continued to go short against Kohli and snuffed him out with one, covering good ground to take a catch that came off the leading edge.

Death overs: Jitesh, Shepherd blaze away; Arshdeep denies 200

Phase score - 58/5 [RR: 11.60, 4s/6s: 3/4]

Jitesh Sharma took it upon himself to turn the tide. He hit two fours off Arshdeep and then brutally took down Jamieson, who'd bowled three excellent overs in the earlier phases. Jitesh ramped a short ball over fine leg and tonked a straight six when the pacer changed his length to go full. Livingstone added to the tally in the same over before falling leg before off a full toss. Romario Shepherd walked in and almost immediately got a reprieve as Praveen Dubey dropped a tough chance running in from mid-wicket. In the middle of an intense exchange, Vyshak knocked back Jitesh's stumps to once again silence the RCB faithful in the stands. Shepherd however, sparked life back into them with a four over fine leg and a massive six over mid-wicket off Omarzai. Arshdeep however, swung the game again, with a peach full ball to trap the West Indian leg before in the final over. After conceding 37 in his first three overs, Arshdeep's fourth, in the 20th - read: 1 W 1 W 1 W.

Punjab Kings

PowerPlay: RCB's pace troika keep it tight

Phase score - 52/1 [RR: , 4s/6s: 5/2]

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood tested Prabhsimran Singh's short-ball flaw early, but couldn't take him out with it. Against Bhuvneshwar, the PBKS opener's cut flew just beyond the outstretched arm off deep backward point. Off Hazlewood, he top-edged a pull to Shepherd at fine leg, who spilled it. Priyansh Arya meanwhile, lived a streaky life. He got two top-edges to fly to the third man fence for successive fours before Phil Salt produced a boundary line blinder to dismiss the left-hander. Josh Inglis pulled Yash Dayal for a six but overall, the RCB pace troika did well to keep a leash on Punjab's scoring in the first phase.

Middle-overs: Krunal Pandya's stirring spell puts RCB ahead

Phase score - 67/3 [RR: 7.44, 4s/6s: 2/5]

Krunal Pandya started with a three-run over as Prabhsimran's struggles spilled over. Suyash Sharma gave him a way out with a full ball in the slot that the opener hit for a straight six. Inglis pulled a googly for one too as the pair took 15 off the leggie. Krunal continued to be a pest for Prabhsimran after the time out, as he had the opener caught at backward point. The game turned for the worse for PBKS in the 10th over when Shepherd got Shreyas Iyer to nick one behind. Inglis tried to push back with a six off Shepherd in the wicket over and another one off Krunal in the next, but the left-arm spinner was in the midst of a stirring spell of bowling as he conceded just 14 off three overs. Patidar gave him his fourth over on the trot and the left-arm spinner repaid that faith with Inglis's wicket to knock the wind out of PBKS' sails. Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera couldn't connect against the spin of Suyash but the left-hander hit a four and six off Shepherd to keep the flame flickering heading to the death overs.

Death overs: Bhuvneshwar comes in clutch

Phase score - 65/3 [RR: 10.83, 4s/6s: 2/6]

Shashank hit two sixes off Hazlewood in a 17-run 16th over to drag the game back to an even keel. But Bhuvneshwar pushed RCB a step towards glory with the wickets of Wadhera and Marcus Stoinis in the 17th over. Azmatullah Omarzai then fell in the 18th over off Dayal, leaving Shashank with too much to do. He hit a six and a four off Bhuvneshwar in the penultimate over to take the equation down to 29 off 6. Hazlewood bowled two dots to end the tie and Kohli was in tears, even as Shashank went 6, 4, 6, 6 in the next four balls.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 190/9 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 43, Rajat Patidar 26; Arshdeep Singh 3-40) beat Punjab Kings 184/7 in 20 overs (Shashank Singh 61*, Josh Inglis 39; Krunal Pandya 2-17) by 6 runs.