NEW DELHI: The opening duo of skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli shared a big 137-run stand before Punjab Kings bowlers bounced back to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 174 for four in an IPL match at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday.
Du Plessis led from the front despite a rib injury and slammed 84 off 56 balls that included five sixes and as many fours in his blistering knock.
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Kohli played a fine knock of 59 which came in 47 balls though the first half of his innings was more fluent. It was the fourth fifty plus score for the RCB openers this season, highlighting their consistency.
Like he often does, the former South Africa skipper was not afraid to show his stumps to the spinners to free his arms for the big shots.
At 91 for no loss in 10 overs, RCB were on course for 200 plus total but Punjab bowled well in the middle and death overs to restrict the opposition, who could only manage 83 runs off the last 60 balls.
Sam Curran and Rahul Chahar did not take wickets but conceded less than seven runs per over.
With regular skipper du Plessis turning up only as an 'Impact Player', Kohli came out for the toss as stand-in captain.
RCB would be a tad disappointed with the total they ended up with after a flying start from du Plessis and Kohli, who fired their team to 59 for no loss in the powerplay.
Arshdeep Singh and Curran employed the short-ball tactic against du Plessis and Kohli with the new ball but it did not work.
The Indian star began with his trademark cover drive off spinner Harpreet Brar before pulling a short ball from Arshdeep over short fine leg for another four in the third over.
Du Plessis got going with a couple of sixes off Brar, who opened the bowling alongside Arshdeep.
The South African made room for a massive straight six over Brar's head and followed it up with another one wide of long on. However, his best of the lot was the straight six off pacer Nathan Ellis as he stood still to slap it over the bowler's head.
(With PTI inputs)
