As it happened: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Punjab Kings, IPL 2022, Brabourne stadium

Punjab Kings gave their playoffs chances a big boost with a thumping 54-run over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne stadium. With 12 points from as many games, Kings are now sixth on the points table, with their net run rate being marginally lower than that of fifth-placed Delhi Capitals.

Sent in, Kings rode on the half-centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone to post a daunting 209 for 9. Bairstow laid the platform, hitting four fours and seven sixes in his 29-ball 66. Once he got out, Livingstone took over and smashed 70 off 42 balls, studded with five fours and four sixes.

In all, there were three overs in the Kings’ innings that went for 20 or more.

In response, Royal Challengers lost Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror within the first five overs. Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar tried to revive the chase but their efforts proved futile.

That's all from my side. See you soon.

Two more wickets in the next two overs for Kings as Rabada first removes Shahbaz and then Chahar sends back Hasaranga, as Brar takes the catch at deep midwicket boundary, lobs it up before stepping out and then comes back to complete pouch it again.

RCB 142 for 8, needing 68 from the last two overs.

Arshdeep Singh has been brilliant for Kings this season. Almost always tasked to bowl those difficult overs at the death, he has been accurate with his yorkers and variations of pace. With 92 needed, he bowls an excellent 15th over, giving away only two runs and dismissing Dinesh Karthik.

Royal Challengers need 90 from the last five overs with Shahbaz and Harshal at the crease.

Maxwell whipped him for four on the first ball of the over, but Rahul Chahar has sent back Patidar to break the 64-run stand (off 37 balls). With the shorter boundary on the leg side, Chahar kept it outside off but Patidar still targeted the leg side, only to hole out to long-on.

In the next over, Maxwell ends up hitting Brar straight to Arshdeep at long-off. Thigh-fives everywhere, from Arshdeep to Brar to Livingstone.

RCB 106/5 after 12

After that big Chahar over, Patidar hits Brar for a six and a four off successive balls. Maxwell then cuts Rishi for four to take Kings to 95 for 3 after ten overs. They need another 115 from the next ten.

With RCB 53 for 3 after seven overs, Maxwell and Patidar decide to take on Chahar. Maxwell starts with a reverse-swept boundary. Patidar then launches him over wide long-on before Maxwell wraps up the over with switch-hit six.

Eighteen from that over and RCB move to 71 for 3 after eight.

Mahipal Lomror hits his second ball over wide long-off for a six but Rishi gets him on the very next one. Lomror skips down the track and nails the pull but ends up hitting it straight to Shikhar at short midwicket.

Maxwell is the new batter, in at No. 5, and gets off the mark with a single.

RCB 41/3 after five. Our Forecaster is giving them only a 4.43% chance of winning.

Rishi Dhawan sends back du Plessis from the other end. du Plessis skips down the ground and tries to smash it but all he manages is a faint outside edge. The umpire once again doesn't give it out but Kings send it upstairs and there is no doubt whatsoever.

Patidar and Lomror are in the middle. RCB 34/2 after 4.2

For a moment it looked like Kohli was back into form. He drove Arshdeep Singh to the cover boundary before flicking him through midwicket. He even skipped down the track to Harpreet Brar and lofted him over deep midwicket.

Rabada, though, ended his stay with a short of a length delivery on the pads. Kohli moved towards the leg side and looked to pull it. The ball brushed the glove before lobbing off the thigh pad to the short fine leg. The umpire was unmoved but Kings got the decision overturned on review.

RCB 34/1 after four

And the cat is in the stands, just over the sightscreen. It's a black cat with a white patch on its tummy. And it's directly in Faf du Plessis' line of sight. So we have a little pause in play.

Luckily, the cat decides to move across and we resume. I think I have seen everything now.

RCB 7/0 after one over

After a relatively slow start by his own high standards, Livingstone takes apart Hazlewood in the 19th over. This despite him having the longer boundary on the leg side. Livingstone hit him for two fours and two sixes in a 24-run over. On the last ball of the over, he dabs it on the off side and takes a single to retain the strike. Hazlewood finishes with 4-0-64-0.

Harshal goes around the wicket and angles it across him. After a wide and a dot, he looks to scoop one over the short third man but ends up hitting it behind the stumps. Karthik runs back and takes it just outside the 30-yard circle.

In all, Harshal gives away only four in the final over to finish with 4 for 34 from his four overs. Still, Kings have 209 for 9 on the board. Will that prove to be a winning total?

Punjab Kings and Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has been in the spotlight this season for his stylish shot-making and his ability to take his team over the line at the death. Sreshth Shah interviewed him earlier about his late start, his breakthrough year, and finding an unusual path into cricket.

Tonight too Jitesh has moved to 9 off just four balls with the help of two fours.

Kings 163/4 after 16.

PS: Two balls later, Hasaranga bowls him with a googly as Jitesh fails to connect after coming down the track.

While Livingstone has been going great guns, Agarwal struggled for timing. He was on 10 off 12 balls before picking up two fours of Harshal, the second of which came via an outside edge that went between the keeper and short third man. But Harshal sent him back with the final ball of the over. It was an offcutter but Agarwal failed to pick it up. He was shaping up for a cut but checked his shot in the end. The ball spooned towards backward point where Hasaranga pedalled back to catch it.

Kings 152/4 after 15

Overs 9, 10 and 11 brought a total of 13 runs and Bairstow's wicket. But Livingstone jumped down the track to Shahbaz on the first bowl of the 12th over to hit him for a six. Three balls later, a misfield from Hazlewood at fine leg resulted in a boundary. Shahbaz conceded only two singles off the last two balls. Still, it was a 15-run over.

Harshal Patel, though, concedes only seven from the other end.

Kings 130/2 after 13

Fuller, outside off and spinning away does the trick. Bairstow charges down the ground and looks to go down the ground. Instead, he ends up miscuing it towards cover-point, where two fielders converge before Siraj pouches it.

Bairstow falls 66 off 29. Mayank Agarwal walks in at No. 5.

Kings 102/3 after 9.1

He has raced away to 66 off 28 balls with four fours and seven sixes. How to stop him? Here's Irfan Pathan's tip:

It was a googly, tossed up outside off. Rajapaksa tried to hit it inside out over covers but ended up miscuing it towards short third man, where Harshal Patel put in the slide to his left to take the catch.

Kings for 95 for 2 after eight

Kings brought up their half-century in just four overs. On the next ball, Dhawan danced down the ground to Maxwell and launched him over long-on. Maxwell had the last laugh, though, castling Dhawan with the last ball of the over. Dhawan fell for 21 off 15.

But there is no stopping Bairstow. He launches Siraj for three sixes and a four in a 23-run sixth over. Kings end the powerplay at 83 for 1, and Sampath Bandarupalli tells it's their second-highest powerplay total ever. Shiva Jayaraman adds that Bairstow's 21-ball half-century is his fastest in T20s.

Can Royal Challengers make a comeback in the middle overs? Our Maruti Suzuki ASKcricinfo stat tells me they have taken the most wickets by a team in the middle overs at IPL 2022.

Gaurav Sundararaman: Among all the venues in IPL 2022, Brabourne is by far the hardest for bowlers. In the powerplay, the run rate here has been 8.8; the next best is 7.5 at the DY Patil stadium. While Hazlewood has had a top-notch IPL, his economy and wicket-taking ability in the three games played at the Brabourne stadium is the worst. He goes at 11.29 runs per over here and is yet to take a wicket from 51 balls.

And we have already seen four in the first three overs tonight. All four have come from Jonny Bairstow's bat. First he lofted Maxwell down the ground, holding his shape. Then he got stuck into Hazlewood, slogging him over deep midwicket twice. Siraj too was tonked in the same region. Apart from four sixes, he has picked up two fours as well and has moved to 34 off 12 balls.

Kings 43 for 0 after three

Our Maruti Suzuki ASKcricinfo stat tells me that Mohammed Siraj is the most expensive powerplay bowler (min. ten overs) in IPL 2022, with an economy of 9.12. At the death, his numbers are even worse: an economy of 14.75, which is also the worst for any bowler who has bowled at least eight overs in that phase this season.

In the middle overs, though, he has an economy of 6.27. So can Royal Challengers use him primarily in the middle overs, like Sunrisers Hyderabad use Umran Malik?

Faf du Plessis wins the toss and opts to bowl. "The wickets are getting better now, so the toss is not playing a big role," he says. "We have got the same team."

"It's not a bad toss to lose," Mayank Agarwal agrees. "We have got Harpreet Brar in place of Sandeep Sharma. A left-arm spinner could be a good match-up against them."

Picking Brar over Sandeep is an interesting choice by Kings. Last season, Brar dismissed Kohli and Maxwell off consecutive deliveries before snaring de Villiers in a match-winning spell of 3 for 19. But Sandeep has a great record against Kohli, dismissing him seven times in 14 innings.

Here are the XIs:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Shahbaz Ahmed, 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Punjab Kings: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 4 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Rahul Chahar, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Harpreet Brar