Bowlers, Salt shine as RCB march into first IPL final since 2016

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) waltzed their way into their first IPL final since 2016 as they blew Punjab Kings (PBKS) away for 101 on a surface with seam and extra bounce. Batting didn't get any easier in the second innings, but Phil Salt broke the back of the small chase in the powerplay that went for 61 despite a wicket-maiden in it.

The RCB fast bowlers kept bashing the hard lengths as PBKS refused to dial down the aggression on the challenging surface, taking seven wickets between them. The legspinner Suyash Sharma was the beneficiary of some reckless sweeping; the PBKS batters didn't pick any of the wrong'uns, losing three wickets to him.

The ball bounced and moved more in the second innings than the first, just the time for Salt to unleash his quickest fifty in the IPL - off just 23 balls - to take RCB home with a whole ten overs to spare.

Even before the nature of the pitch made itself apparent to the outside eye, Priyansh Arya failed to keep a drive down. It wasn't as much failing to keep it down but not even going up and over. Prabhsimran Singh, the other part of the dynamic opening partnership, charged Bhuvneshwar Kumar twice and hit two fours. At the third time of asking, Bhuvneshwar shortened the length, the ball seamed, and took the edge.

It was when the returning Josh Hazlewood took the ball in the fourth over that it became clear it was a difficult track. Shreyas Iyer, only 25 runs to his name in four innings in New Chandigarh, tried to pull Hazlewood in front of square and edged him to the keeper. Josh Inglis tried a more regulation pull in Hazlewood's next, and the extra bounce took the top edge.

This was the time that PBKS could have perhaps lowered their sights and aimed for 160 or so. In hindsight, when the ball hooped around in the second innings, this seems like the right thing to have done. But when things are happening so quickly in T20 cricket, it can't be easy to have that kind of foresight.

However, it is easier to watch the ball closely and pick the wrong'un. RCB kept pace on for eight overs for excellent results of 59 for 5. The first sight of spin brought out the reckless side of PBKS. Shashank Singh tried to slog-sweep Suyash, and lost his middle stump to a wrong'un.

A dramatic move to bring in another batter - Kyle Jameison was listed at No. 10 - brought naught. Literally. Musheer Khan, playing for the first time all season, failed to pick a wrong'un but survived before getting out lbw to a legbreak. Marcus Stoinis, who looked like in the best touch of all the PBKS batters, again failed to pick the googly and was bowled comprehensively on the slog-sweep.

The ball kept seaming appreciably even when Romario Shepherd came on to bowl the 14th over, hitting Harpreet Brar on the elbow en route to the stumps. Hazlewood came back to mop up the innings.

It was a brief innings but Virat Kohli set the tone with an emphatic pulled four first ball. By the time he got out - reprising one of his Border-Gavaskar Trophy dismissals - for 12 off 12 balls, RCB had already taken off 30 runs from the already paltry target. However, in that over, Jamieson looked unplayable. He went past Mayank Agarwal's outside edge in three balls out of four. The average swing for PBKS was 1.7 degrees, for RCB it was 0.7.

Then again, PBKS didn't have any total on the board, and needed every good ball to take the edge and go to hand. That almost never happens. After a string of good balls, the moment they erred, Salt came down on them with great fury. Jamieson's next over went for 21 runs. It included a ferocious cut, an emphatic pull, and a drilled extra-cover drive.

The last of PBKS' chance to reprise their successful defense of 111 at the same venue gone, Rajat Patidar finished off in style with a massive slog sweep for six.