In nearly a decade, this is the first time that Virat Kohli has only played as a player and did not lead RCB. Not being titled as the captain did not reduce Kohli's performance at all to show his best in IPL 2022. Even though his team now has to fight even harder in the next match because the results obtained are not optimal.
In the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by Faf du Plessis and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) led by Mayank Agarwal at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, 27 March, the Punjab Kings defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 5 wickets. This stadium has witnessed more than 200 match scores in the IPL this season.
The best part of this match was the return of Virat Kohli and a new captain. Faf du Plessis managed to make a good first impression by engaging in a 118-run second-wicket stand with Kori and racking up 29-41 runs. Near the end of Dineshkartic, a 14-ball-32 cameo knock pushed RCB from 20 over to 205/2.
Smith's contribution to Punjab's victory
The Punjab Kings got off to a good start with captain Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan adding 71 runs. Agarwal scored 32 runs in 24 appearances and Dawan gave a quick 29 ball 43.
The combination of Sri Lankan international Banuka Rajapaksa also got a Vital 43. Sharq is unbeaten 24 times with 20 deliveries. The duet of Shah Rukh Khan and Odean Smith really helped PBKS as they crossed the finish line with a lot of time.
Because of his good performance, Odean Smith was awarded the Player of the Match. The player who managed to hit 25 run-offs on eight balls said he was confident his team could finish well after playing well from the start.
Smith, spent 52 runs in his 4 over quota and admits he needs to improve this aspect of the game. Even so, he was quite happy with his hitting performance while playing in yesterday's match.
According to him, ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 the Punjab Kings players have watched a motivational film “It's all about the belief that once we have a good start, we have the power behind. I'm not bowling very well, there are things to work on." said Smith.
Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal said his team was able to capitalize on the right opportunity and are pleased it worked. “Two points are very important for us. Good ticket gate as both sides gets 200 plus. One or two balls lifted, but nothing else. Virat and Faf played the game but we trusted our skills” Agarwal said.
RCB performance
The PBKS bowler did show a good performance in the early half of the match. However, in the second half of the match, it was Faf du Plessis' turn, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik who struck brilliantly and made RCB score 205 runs.
Faf du Plessis said it was a tough night for bowlers but still did pretty well with the wet ball. Despite being faced with a small margin, they were able to catch up well with good strength.
“In the second inning, the ball slipped a bit and was pulled back cleanly. I did a lot of good things along the way,” he said. Even so, Du Plessis remains excited to lead his team to victory in the IPL 2022.
RCB's best performance was recorded under the leadership of captain Kohli in 2016 when the team was runner-up with more than 900 runs collected by the captain. Even though he is counted as a veteran, Kohli is proven to still be able to perform optimally during the IPL 2022 tournament.
If you are interested in betting on IPL games visit our latest betting picks!
