The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Who would have imagined RCB to stay afloat in the tournament with just two more matches remaining. They had lost seven out of their first eight games and it looked dead and buried for them. However they have risen from the phoenix and have given thesemlves a chance with a couple of games to go. They have to win those two and that too by decent margins to leapfrog the 4th placed side. Two wins and a superior net run rate might not be enough as other teams could make it through on the virtue of wins only. RCB would be telling themselves that why didn't they play this brand of cricket in the first half of the tournament. For Punjab Kings, it's all but over as they join Mumbai Indians as the second team to get knocked out of the tournament. There were some moments for them in the tournament but couldn't conjure wins which are needed to go through to the playoffs. They have now failed to make the last four for the 10th consecutive time in the IPL. Not a result they would be proud of but they still have a couple of games to play and they have pride to play for. The IPL extravaganza will continue tomorrow with the Chennai Super Kings slated to lock horns against the Gujarat Titans. Join us then and for many more sporting actions on Sportskeeda but for now, this is me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Pragadeesh. Goodnight! Cheers!
Virat Kohli (Player of the Match): I mean it's still quality over quantity. I am heading towards 36 so it works very well. Understanding the game for so many years allows you to stay fresh with minimum work. You want to keep improving certain aspects of the game. I am not the guy who will sit around and not to try and improve what I need to. I mentally put myself in that situation. I know I can hit the slog sweep, for me that shot I used to hit regularly back in the day. I am looking to expose that side of the field. It takes a bit more conviction which I have found to what happens if you give away your wicket. It has helped me improving my strike rate this season. The only way to go through a long tournament is to be honest with yourself. This is not an ideal scenario as we knew we were not playing good enough cricket. The starting point was Kolkata, that game gave us a bit more confidence. A point came where we wanted to play for self respect. We wanted to not play in a win which doesn't make us proud or the fans proud. We are on a roll but the thought is always there if you could have got this momentum a well earlier so these calculations wouldn't have come into picture.
Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain): Yeah it was a really good game. Scoring 240 after losing the toss. The method and the aggression is really good to see. We have had some conversations as we felt we were making the same mistakes over and over again. The aggression with the bat was something we wanted to change. You can't just play normal T20 cricket these days. We spoke about how to get more wickets in the powerplay. We challenged a few members. We went to different resources which have worked pretty well. I think you understand that you need some form. The way we started, we have a few guys were looking for runs. You need guys with character to turn it around. There are few guys now with some form behind them. We want to keep playing in the manner we have been doing. We have proven how good a team we are in the last four games. If we do get things right, we are a very dangerous team.
Rilee Rossouw gets the award for hitting most fours in the match.
Virat Kohli also bags the award for hitting most sixes in the match.
Virat Kohli bags the Ultimate Fantasy Player of the Match Award.
Rajat Patidar gets the Electric striker of the match award.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony with Murali Kartik.
Swapnil Singh - I enjoyed a lot. The pressure is less because everyone is going for runs. Mentally, you think you will also go for runs but things are going well for me. After the first half, we had a meeting and in that, there was a discussion that we didn't use the spinners effectively. As we are on a roll and we have to hit the length. If the batter is doing great, then credit to him but we have to hit the right areas
Sam Curran (Punjab Kings Captain) - It's frustrating. A lot of positive signs throughout the tournament but I am gutted with the defeat. I guess we knew what's going to be around and we know what's the best side of the tournament. We will come back stronger by learning from the mistakes. I enjoyed leading the great bunch of guys and we will try to finish on a high by winning the next two matches. We apologise to the fans but we will keep fighting . We had a lot of highs by chasing a record score but lost too many tight matches. There were a lot of disappointment inside me now