PBKS bowlers managed to pick wickets at regular intervals against RCB
In the IPL 2025 final, Punjab Kings bowlers seemed to have come with a full list of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) weaknesses in their pocket.
First Kyle Jamieson got the better of dangerous opener Phil Salt with a back of the length delivery that was skied to mid-off and was caught brilliantly by PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer.
While Yuzvendra Chahal got his regular scalp of former PBKS captain and Karnataka batter Mayank Agarwal with his second ball itself, Jamieson put a further dent by sending back RCB captain Rajat Patidar who was just getting warmed up with a six.
Jamieson bowled three slower balls under 120 kmph and then sent a floating yorker to Patidar who couldn’t do anything.
The came the big wicket when Azmatullah Omarzai ran diagonally after Virat Kohli top-edged a short ball and completed a superb diving catch. As a result, RCB were hobbling at 132/4 after 15 overs on a batting haven at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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Legendary Chennai Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden, in the commentary box, was quick to catch on to PBKS’ tactics and point the ‘Australianness’ of the bowling plans that led to Kohli’s dismissal.
“Set plans absolutely no doubt about that. Very different plans to other batters. Back of a length consistently. Like they (PBKS) did to MI batters other night. They want him to hit square – he’s a lot more comfortable hitting over the bowler’s head or over mid-off and mid-on. They said, ‘You’ve got to take on the pull and hook if you want to find the boundary’,” Hayden said on Star Sports’ commentary.
“This is very much an Australian plan. You see it in BBL (Big Bash League) all the time. You’ve got bigger square boundaries (like in Ahmedabad here) and down the ground is shorter. Ponting coach, James Hopes bowling coach, Brad Haddin assisant coach. Three Australians in that dugout plus Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis (on the field),” the former Australian opener explained.
RCB’s batting faltered at many occasions as PBKS bowlers kept chipping away the wickets.
Arshdeep Singh got three wickets in the final over, while Jamieson cracked open the top-order. Meanwhile, Vijaykumar Vyshak put an end to Jitesh Sharma’s cameo of 24 off 10 balls.
At the end of 20 overs, Patidar’s side finished 190/9.
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