IPL 2024 has been a forgettable tournament for the bowlers.
200-plus totals have become the norm this season with the teams making most of the Impact Player ruling, while the flat pitches have also been a big roadblock for the bowlers.
RCB's strong batting line-up led by the mercurial Virat Kohli amassed a huge 241/7. For Punjab Kings, the young Vidhwath Kaverappa had a dream debut with the ball as he took 2/36 while having three catches dropped of his bowling.
RCB were not really stretched with the ball, Swapnil Singh and Lockie Ferguson bagging two wickets each in their easy victory.
PBKS vs RCB: The Best Spells...
Vidwath Kaverappa
Young pacer Vidwath Kaverappa enjoyed a memorable debut for Punjab Kings, picking up two crucial wickets in the Powerplay against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Bowling with accuracy, Kaverappa kept the RCB top order in check despite some shaky fielding by his Punjab Kings team-mates.
His IPL baptism started brightly as he dismissed Faf du Plessis cheaply with a well-directed delivery outside off stump. The catch was comfortably taken by Shashank Singh at deep point.
Kaverappa wasn't done there. He displayed his variations by tempting Will Jacks into a miscued sweep shot in the fifth over. A diving Harshal Patel at short fine leg secured the catch.
His 2/36 don't tell the whole story. The Karnataka youngster was unlucky not to have ended up with more wickets. He had three catches dropped off his bowling in first of his three overs, including two of Virat Kohli and one off Rajat Patidar. These dropped chances could have significantly altered the course of the innings.
Despite the missed opportunities, Kaverappa impressed on debut with his pace, control, and ability to pick up key wickets. Despite playing his first IPL match, he was way better than his accomplished team-mates and his ability to bowl wicket-taking deliveries encouraged Punjab Kings Captain Sam Curran to bowl his four overs in a row in his first spell.
Swapnil Singh
Swapnil Singh has proved to be RCB's lucky charm. This season, RCB have not lost a single match in which Swapnil has played, winning their last four games since he has been brought into the team.
Spin all-rounder Swapnil's inclusion in the RCB team was more of a desperate measure after they managed just one victory from the first eight games. He made an immediate impact in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad with two crucial wickets and since then has been putting in some impactful performances.
In the must-win game against Punjab Kings, Swapnil gave RCB the perfect start with the ball as he struck in the first over of the innings, getting Prabhsimran Singh leg before wicket for six.
The left-arm spinner also dismissed the dangerous Liam Livingstone, who was caught in the covers for a duck. He did well to slow down the ball to Livingstone, who was a bit early into the flick before the ball gripped and turned to go off the leading edge.
Bowing at different stages of the innings, Swapnil was able to keep the Punjab batters' in check, to finish with 2/28 in three overs.
Lockie Ferguson
New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson registered his best figures of the season, as he bagged 2/29 in three overs.
RCB's gamble to include Ferguson in place of Glenn Maxwell worked the trick as he played a crucial role with the ball on a good pitch.
Ferguson has struggled to get regular playing time for RCB this season but this good showing against Punjab Kings could make him a regular starter in the next few games.
Ferguson got off to a good start as he dismissed the well-set Jonny Bairstow in his first over. After getting hit for two fours in a row, Ferguson extracted revenge.
The slower ball did the trick as Bairstow was early into the lofted shot as he ended up slicing it with Faf du Plessis taking a good catch running back from mid off, in the sixth over.
It turned out to be an important wicket for RCB as Baristow and Rilee Rossouw had got Punjab back in the hunt, putting on a 65 run stand for the second wicket from 31 balls.
With RCB constantly shuffling their bowlers around, Ferguson didn't get an over for quite a while. He came back to bowl the 14th over in which he kept things tight, giving away just singles, and the pressure paid off as Shashank Singh was run out by a direct hit from Kohli going for a suicidal second run.
Ferguson had gauged the pitch quite well and used the change of pace quite effectively to stifle the Punjab batters. He produced a beauty to clean up Sam Curran, with the knuckle ball which was much slower and beat the batter all ends up, as he attempted a big swing across the line.
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Photographs: BCCI
