IPL 2022, RCB vs PBKS | Virat Kohli and Faf Du Plessis took away game from us but our batters chased it, says Mayank Agarwal

Punjab Kings made a winning start to the IPL 2022 beating Royal Challengers Bangalore courtesy of brilliant finishing skills shown by Odean Smith and Shahrukh Khan. Winning the toss, PBKS opted to bowl first. The opposition hammered them for 205/2. Faf Du Plessis wreaked havoc with his batting and scored 88 runs from 57 balls. 

Virat Kohli scored unbeaten 41 runs from 29 balls. Punjab Kings chased down the target with a collective effort from the batting unit and won by five wickets. Reflecting on the RCB’s batting, winning captain Mayank Agarwal said that Kohli and Du Plessis tilted the game in their team’s favour but Punjab’s batsmen chased down the target. 

“I think we gave them 15-20 more. Virat and Faf took the game away from us but credit to our batters to chase this down. We trust our skills. It doesn't come off, it doesn't come off but we are not going to panic and make a scene out of it,” Agarwal said in the post-match presentation. 

Chasing the target, all of the batsmen contributed to the victory. Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa both scored 43 runs. Mayank Agarwal scored 32 runs from 24 balls. Odean Smith played a key role at the back end of the inning with a cameo scoring unbeaten 25 runs from eight balls. Sharing his views on the win , Agarwal said that the team took the right chances while batting and it worked very well for the team in the end. 

“Two points for us is very important. Good wicket. Very good wicket as both sides scored 200 plus. One or two balls held up but nothing apart from that. Credit to the way we finished. We took the right chances and am glad it came off,” he stated.

Odean Smith was adjudged Man of the Match for his power-hitting in the end. He hit a single boundary and three sixes to take his team over the finish line. Smith said that the team needs to have a self-belief to win the title.

“We were stressing on having a good start. We just needed to have that belief. Didn't go so well with the bowling. I need to work on a few things. Batting was good as I helped my team to win. It was all about execution and I couldn't and that's why it went haywire. Punjab hasn't won the title so far but we need to have the belief. We watched '14 peaks', 13 remain for us,” he explained.