Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Punjab Kings by 24 runs in an IPL 2023 match, causing PBKS to drop three places to eighth position in the points table. RCB now stands at fifth position. Faf du Plessis played a special knock despite a rib injury and scored 84 off 56 balls, sharing a 137-run opening wicket stand with stand-in captain Virat Kohli (59 off 47). RCB won their third game of the season in six matches.
In-form skipper Shikhar Dhawan was unavailable for the second game in a row, and Punjab had enough firepower to chase down 175 but lost too many wickets at the start of the chase. Siraj (4/21) was too hot to handle in the powerplay. At 97 for six, the game looked done and dusted but Jitesh Sharma kept Punjab in the game with some clean hitting, especially down the ground. He ran out of partners eventually.
Before the start of the PBKS vs RCB game, Punjab Kings were fifth with RCB at eighth. With RCB winning, the two teams just swapped places. Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants continue at one and two respectively in the table.Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans round the top four.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis continues to lead the batting charts with his 84 against Punjab Kings, becoming the first batter in IPL 2023 to cross 300-run mark. His teammate Virat Kohli is second in the list with 279 runs. With his career-best figures in IPL against Punjab Kings, RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj displaced Mark Wood of LSG to go atop the bowler’s chart. He now has 12 wickets from six games.