5 moments that shaped RCB's first win of IPL 2024

PBKS lose quick wickets

When Liam Livingstone (17) and Shikhar Dhawan (45) were dismissed off consecutive deliveries, it was a turning point in the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as there was a chance to restrict Punjab Kings (PBKS) to an under-par total. In fact, if you include the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh, PBKS lost three wickets in 21 deliveries and that perhaps proved to be a difference of 10-15 runs, which could have been vital.

Shashank Singh’s cameo

Shashank Singh walked into bat with PBKS at 150/5 and 13 balls to go. He faced eight of those deliveries, smacking a four and a couple of sixes on his way to an unbeaten 21. His cameo pushed PBKS’ score past 170, giving their bowlers something to bowl at.

Kohli makes PBKS pay

You cannot drop a player of Virat Kohli's stature on 0. PBKS learnt the hard way as the RCB opener went on to score a match-changing 77 off just 49 deliveries, with 11 fours and a couple of sixes punctuating his innings.

Brar’s impressive spell

Harpreet Brar bowled a top-class spell, getting the wickets of Rajat Patidar (18) and Glenn Maxwell (3) in quick succession to tilt the game in PBKS’s favour. He bowled with utmost control and did not waver in line or length. 

Lomror and Karthik finish things off

RCB lost Kohli and Anuj Rawat (11) in a span of three deliveries and were staring down the barrel with the hosts needing 47 off 22. Mahipal Lomror (17*) initially took the pressure off Dinesh Karthik (28*) with a few boundaries, but then the latter showed his class, first ripping into Harshal Patel in the penultimate over and then, in the final over, took on Arshdeep Singh to take his side home.