Livingstone, Bairstow set up winning total for Kings
Kagiso Rabada then finishes the job, taking 3 for 21 to derail Royal Challengers' chase
Kagiso Rabada then finishes the job, taking 3 for 21 to derail Royal Challengers' chase
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: @PeterDellaPenna
11.26 pm A tame chase fizzles out to an uneventful finish as RCB tries to bat out the overs trying to protect their net run rate from taking a colossal hit with a wide margin of victory and they manage to avoid being bowled out. But Punjab Kings finish with a dominant win.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis: "It was a good score. Obviously Jonny the way he started the innings there put our bowlers under some real pressure. I thought we pulled it back and 200 was probably a par score on that wicket. It was probably the best one we've had and played on in this campaign. When you're chasing big scores like that, they key thing is not to lose wickets in clusters and that's where we got it a little bit wrong. There was that bang bang with me and Virat and the same thing a few overs later. [On Virat's tournament] He's seeing the lighter side of it. Obviously when you... every single way that you think you can possibly get out, that's just how the game works. Sometimes when you're a little bit of under pressure, the game finds ways to keep you under pressure. All you can really do is make sure you keep working hard, keep a good intensity, a good attitude, keep staying positive knowing that it's around the corner. He played some really good shots tonight and obviously you'd like him to kick on. But I think he's handling it really well. Tough patches are difficult for all of us, but he's in good spirits and he believes it's around the corner. [On final match coming up on May 19th] There's one or two areas where we weren't great tonight and it showed in the batting, bowling and even fielding. So all around, not a great outing for us tonight. So for me, it's take a day off, forget about the performance and then come back and see how you can switch the guys on for what will be a must-win game for us and then make sure we put all our energy in the game that's ahead of us and not the game behind us. There's not one more net session that will make you a better player now. We've had a lot of nets, a lot of games, it's been a long IPL. For me, it's just making sure you're nice and strong in the mind, keep believing in yourself and us as a team. If we play to our full potential, we're a very good team but tonight we didn't do that."
Punjab Kings allrounder Liam Livingstone: "I've just got a tight calf/Achilles so it was just a precaution to ice it and I didn't want to make it any worse. [Innings by himself and Bairstow] It's how we want to play our cricket. I thought Jonny was outstanding and really set the tone and from then on, I thought we were ahead of the game and it gave us a chance, especially myself, to get in and assess the conditions a little bit longer than usual. So it was nice to be able to knock it around for a little bit before setting a platform to go at the end. Jonny set it up perfectly for the rest of the batters and I think the way we bowled was pretty exceptional on a very good pitch. I still thought we were 10-15 short with the size of the boundary and how good the pitch was so I think all credit goes to our bowlers. If we get our chance to put the opposition under pressure, then make sure we do that and I thought Jonny did that perfectly today to one of their best bowlers throughout the tournament. The intent that he showed in his first over, that put us way ahead of the game, not just in the game but mentally as well. The way Jonny went out there and played today, we know how good he is at the top of the order and he showed that. It's been a different role. I've been up and down the order and just trying to make a contribution in every game wherever I am. Sometimes I come in with three overs left, sometimes I've come in the Powerplay. The proudest thing for me is being able to contribute in all areas of the game is pretty pleasing for me. I feel like I'm seeing the ball well at the moment and it's nice to be able to put in performances that go a long way to winning your team the game. So it's been nice to get a few runs and long may it continue. Having that skillset to be able to bat anywhere in the order sets me up really well. Having the sort of knowledge to bat in the Powerplay but also having the skills to come in and hit from ball one at the death is something I work really hard on and I pride myself on. So wherever the team and the coach and the captain want me to bat, I'll try to do the best of my ability to affect the game in that situation."
Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal: "We were very good with the bat. I thought we were brilliant. The wicket was holding up a bit. The way Jonny and Livi batted was simply amazing. [On change in batting approach this year] We haven't changed a lot to be really honest. It's just about understanding the situations and understanding the wicket. If a wicket doesn't allow us to get 200, we can't go out and play that kind of cricket. So we have to be adaptable and flexible, which we have been. [Tactics protecting a short boundary] It can get a little tough for a captain to do that, but we can't be too defensive with the ball. As we have seen with the IPL, if a batsman gets going and gets set, no boundaries aren't long enough for the batsman these days. But you still have to be smart with how you go about it and be aggressive with the ball. [On Bairstow] Two points are the most crucial thing for us. As long as the job gets done, I'm fine whether I'm batting five, four, six. [On Arshdeep] Very very energetic person, very confident guy. We can see that on the field. He enjoys his cricket and stays stress free. He's a leader on the team."
Player of the Match is Jonny Bairstow for his 66 off 29 balls: "It's one of those days. A couple of those come off and it's your day. [Taking on Hazlewood] There's many quality bowlers in the IPL and sometimes you have to try to get them off their lengths because someone like him hits that length consistently. So you have to try to get him off that length into areas you want to be hitting. From the end he was bowling at, the line he was bowling was off stump. It's a completely different commodity playing for England and playing here. Through the middle, there's a job to do for England. Coming here, the stats suggest I quite enjoy opening the batting."
That's it for today's live IPL coverage on ESPNcricinfo. On behalf of my fellow commentary partners Andrew Miller and Sidharth Monga, I'm Peter Della Penna. Come back tomorrow for more live iPL action. Until then, take care!
Kagiso Rabada then finishes the job, taking 3 for 21 to derail Royal Challengers' chase
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