RCB beat PBKS to lift maiden IPL trophy

Ahmedabad: After 18 years of long wait, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lifted its maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy after beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad this evening.

While invited to bat first, RCB had scored 190-9 (20 Ov) after Virat Kohli scored 43 in 33 balls.  Mayank Agarawal 24 (18), Rajat Patidar (c) 26 (16), Liam Livingstone 25 (15), Jitesh Sharma (wk) 24 (10) and Romario Shepherd 17 (9) also contributed fore the team.

While chasing the target of 190 runs, PBKS being guided by Shashank Singh’s 61* off 30 balls could scored only 184-7 (20 Ov) and thus they fell short of  six runs to get their first IPL trophy.

RCB had qualified for the IPL final thrice in the past, losing all three times in 2009, 2011, and 2016. PBKS, on the other hand, qualified for the final once in 2014 when they were known as Kings XI Punjab.

This year, RCB were the first team to qualify for the final by beating Punjab Kings by eight wickets in Qualifier 1, while PBKS made it to the second final after defeating the Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 2 clash by five wickets.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):

• Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
• Impact Subs: Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Suyash Sharma.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI):

• Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
• Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Praveen Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlet, Harpreet Brar

Also Read: IPL to witness new champion as RCB-PBKS fight for their maiden title in 18 years