Punjab Kings beat RCB by five wickets
Navi Mumbai, Mar 27: Newly-appointed skipper Faf du Plessis' scintillating 57-ball 88 went in vain as Punjab Kings produced a solid batting display to script a successful chase for a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling IPL match here on Sunday.
While Du Plessis showed his six-hitting prowess, hammering seven maximums in his whirlwind knock, Virat Kohli also chipped in with an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls and Dinesh Karthik made a quick fire 32 not out as RCB posted a massive 205 for 2 after being invited to bat.
The chase was steep but not impossible and Punjab produced a sensational effort to overhaul the target, scoring 208 for 5 with an entire over to spare.
While Mayank Agarwal (32 off 24) and Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 29) added 71 for the first wicket to lay the foundation for the chase, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (43 off 22) also shone on his IPL debut but Punjab suffered a collapse to be down and out at 156 for 5.
However, Shahrukh Khan (24 not out off 20 balls) and Odean Smith (25 not out off 8 balls) then joined hands to complete the job in the end. The duo shared a 52-run unbroken stand off just 25 balls for the sixth wicket to take Punjab home.
Smith smashed three sixes and a four off Mohammed Siraj in the 18th over to accumulate 25 runs and bring down the equation to 11 from the final two overs.
Shahrukh, who hit one four and two maximums, finished the game with a boundary as Mayank Agarwal started his captaincy tenure with a win.
Earlier, RCB skipper du Plessis and Kohli added 118 runs for the second wicket after the former and Anuj Rawat (21) had laid the foundation with their 50 run-stand.
RCB amassed 11 extra' runs, off the second over off Arshdeep Singh. Du Plessis got his first boundary in the third, while in the same over, Rawat hit his first maximum, as RCB raced to 23/0.
Rawat hit successive boundaries in the sixth over, off Odean Smith. But leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (1/22) cut shot Rawat's stay by cleaning him up in the seventh over.
Kohli came in and he took time to settle down.
After successive twos, Kohli's first maximum came in the 10th over as RCB fetched 13 runs off it and at 70/1, the foundation was laid for a big total.
The former South Africa skipper, who got a life', made optimum use of it and then upped the ante, as the carnage started from the 12th over when he hammered a towering six off Liam Livingstone.
Du Plessis was brutal on Odean Smith, whom he hammered for a boundary and two successive sixes. He followed it up with two sixes off Harpreet Brar (0/38).
Kohli, who hit a four and two sixes, was also in his elements, as he played shots at will. He, however, played second fiddle to Du Plessis when the South African was in full flow.
Du Plessis was dismissed in the 18th over, but by then the damage had been done.
A quick-fire 32 from Karthik off just 14 balls, in which he smashed three sixes and as many fours, took RCB beyond the 200-run mark.
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Efforts on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna back to India: Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said efforts are on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexual abuse against women, back to India.
He also asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case was functioning efficiently.
The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women.
The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27 and is still at large.
He was BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls in the first phase on April 26.
"Procedures are on, until we secure him, bring him back here and take action in accordance with law, they will continue. We will neither slow it nor stop it," Parameshwara told reporters on questions about the Interpol's Blue Corner Notice that was issued against Prajwal.
On BJP alleging that the government was "responsible" for Prajwal's "escape" from the country, the Minister said, "They will say it, they have to say such things. They cannot say the government is doing a good job. But we have a responsibility as a government. Such incidents cannot be taken lightly. We will do our job."
Accusing the Congress government of trying to tarnish the reputation of Deve Gowda's family instead of ensuring justice to victims of alleged sex videos scandal case involving Prajwal, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently alleged that every bit of information on the investigation is being sent to a Congress MLA of Mandya district, but not the Home Minister.
Reacting to this, Parameshwara said: "Kumaraswamy is also well aware, several things we cannot bring to the public domain, because the investigation is on. Who will brief the Mandya MLA? Making such allegations is easy. We all have responsibility and we are functioning with responsibility, and we are not under any compulsions."
"I want to tell him (Kumaraswamy) that SIT is working efficiently, and whatever they have to brief me or the Chief Minister, they will brief. Let there be no doubts about it," he said.
