KL Rahul led from the front by scoring an unbeaten 91 off 57 balls as Punjab Kings stunned the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 34 runs in Ahmedabad on Friday.
After being asked to bat first by RCB skipper Virat Kohli, Kyle Jamieson drew first blood by dismissing Prabhsimran Singh caught at extra cover.
Chris Gayle joined in and crunched five fours off Jamieson. The duo of Rahul and Gayle added 80 runs for the second wicket before the latter gloved a well directed short ball from Daniel Sams behind the wickets for a quickfire 46.
Nicholas Pooran registered his fourth duck when he fended a short ball from Jamieson to backward point.
Deepak Hooda miscued a pull off Shahbaz Ahmed to Rajat Patidar at deep backward square leg. Yuzvendra Chahal then got into the act by dismissing Shahrukh Khan leaving them in big trouble at 118/5.
Harpreet Brar scored a breezy 25 off 17 balls to take PBKS TO 179/5 after 20 overs. Skipper Rahul remained unbeaten on 91 off 57 balls with seven fours and five sixes.
Chasing 180, RCB suffered an early jolt by losing the in form Devdutt Padikkal to Riley Meredith for 7. The pair of Kohli and Rajat Patidar put on 43 runs for the second wicket, before the former was dismissed by Harpreet Brar for 35. In addition Brar also claimed the prize scalps of Glenn Maxwell and AB De Villiers.
Rajat Patidar was dismissed by Chris Jordan caught at long on by Nicholas Pooran, thus putting an end to Bangalore’s slim chance of a victory.
Ravi Bishnoi then dismissed Shahbaz Ahmed and Daniel Sams leaving them in tatters at 96/7. Even though Kyle Jamieson and Harshal Patel put on an invaluable 48 run stand RCB fell short of the desired target, giving Punjab a comprehensive 34 run win.
Left arm spinner Harpreet Brar was declared the Man of the Match for his magnificent performance with the ball.