Ahmedabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Virat Kohli washed away 18 years of hurt and disappointment on a dream Tuesday night, conquering Punjab Kings by six runs to lift their maiden Indian Premier League title here on Tuesday.
The final turned out to be a battle of nerves and RCB certainly channelled their years of disappointment and pain to come back roaring in the contest and seal a commanding victory.
A partisan crowd did not give up on RCB even as they struggled to find the flourish with the bat and ended up posting a total of 190/9 with superstar Kohli making a laborious 35-ball 43.
At the break, RCB’s total did not look enough but a persistent effort from their bowlers made the scoreboard pressure ultimately work in their favour.
With 29 needed off the final over, RCB’s win was sealed when Josh Hazlewood bowled the second dot ball on the trot. Shashank Singh struck a valiant 61 not out off 30 balls (3x4s, 6x6s), but his effort came far too late as Punjab Kings ended at 184 for seven.
Josh Hazlewood provided the first breakthrough, Krunal Pandya bowled a dream spell of 4-0-17-2 in a summit clash but it was Romario Shepherd’s dismissal of PBKS’ gun captain Shreyas Iyer that finally indicated which way the game was headed.
All it took was an innocuous delivery outside off to see the back of the most dangerous batter in the final as Iyer, coming off a terrific knock in Qualifier 2, edged it behind off Shepherd and walked back with his head dropped.
Josh Inglis (39 off 23 balls, 1x4s, 4x6s) made every opportunity count when it came to hitting towards midwicket but Pandya had him caught at long-on in the 13th over.
Thereafter, every dot ball drew appreciation from fans and they were at their loudest when RCB legend AB de Villiers appeared on the big screen on the ground, and also when PBKS were mathematically knocked out.
Desperate to strike early, RCB needed something special and Phil Salt produced a brilliant effort in the deep when Priyansh Arya (24) lifted the ball off Hazlewood in the fifth over.
Salt made a dash from deep square leg to his right and took the catch reverse cupped and threw the ball up in the air as he hurtled past the ropes. He recovered quickly to get inside the field and take a stunning catch.
Punjab’s impact sub Prabhsimran Singh (26 off 22 balls) succumbed to pressure even as his side made 52/1 in the powerplay.
Bhuvneshwar shut the doors on Punjab when he dismissed Nehal Wadhera (15) and Marcus Stoinis (6) in a span of three deliveries in the 17th over and thereon, RCB’s triumph was only a formality.
Earlier, RCB huffed and puffed to 190 for nine after their batters failed to press matters on what remained a conducive wicket.
While RCB were not only a tad conservative in the big final, luck also did not favour the fourth-time finalists chasing their maiden trophy a great deal, as each of their batters perished after getting a start.
And there were no fireworks on the night of the big final as Kohli, looking to anchor the innings the way he has done in the past, perished after his laborious effort in the middle.
Kohli struck a mere three fours — two after the ninth over — as he got his 43 runs off 35 balls at 122.85.
RCB’s slowing down post the powerplay, in which they scored 55/1, also saw their batters farming the strike rather than taking initiative to aim for big overs with only 42 runs coming between overs 6-11.
Salt’s early exit had a major impact on how RCB’s innings progressed thereon but none of the following batters including Mayank Agarawal (24), Rajat Patidar (26) and Liam Livingstone (25) could convert their starts.
The lanky Jamieson a huge impact, not only finding the right lengths and variations to keep a lid on the batters but also accounting for three key batters to push RCB back further.
In the second over, after Salt smacked him for a four over mid-on, he had the RCB opener caught off Iyer and in the 11th, after Rajat Patidar hit him for a six over mid-off, Jamieson bowled a superb slow yorker which pinned the batter in front of the wickets.
Jamieson’s numbers were spoiled to some extent in the 17th over when Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10 balls, 2x4s, 2x6s) clobbered a couple of sixes and Livingstone one to collect 23 off it.
But once again, Jamieson ended it by trapping Livingstone leg-before off a full toss.
India star Arshdeep Singh accounted for Krunal Pandya (4), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) and Romario Shepherd (17) in the final over.
