IPL: Siraj continues to shine bright as Bangalore collect 2nd consecutive win

Mohammed Siraj is a different beast when it comes to the powerplay. And in Thursday’s IPL 2023 fixture against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) seamer gave yet another reminder of why he’s among the best in the business in this day and age as far as operating with the brand new ball is concerned.

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Siraj produced his best-ever display in the Indian Premier League as well as one of the best performances of his career across formats on Thursday as his haul of 4/21 in four overs broke the backbone of the Punjab batting unit and left a massive dent in their hopes of collecting a fourth win in six games after they were set 175 to win at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali.

And for Siraj, who now has 57 dots and six wickets in 84 powerplay deliveries this season after his latest display, the destruction began off the second ball of the Punjab chase. Atharva Taide, opening alongside Prabhsimran Singh in place of regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan, collected a boundary off the very first ball of the chase much to the delight of the Mohali faithful.

Siraj, however, would respond the very next delivery, trapping the southpaw LBW with an inswinger from over the wicket, with RCB having to use the review to overturn the umpire’s original decision of ‘Not Out’.

Read | RCB ‘broke the game open’ in the powerplay, says Kohli

After a change of ends in the fourth over, Siraj would prise out the wicket of Liam Livingstone, among the more destructive batters across the IPL, not just in the Punjab lineup. And once again Bangalore would have to use the review after the umpire initially shook his head, this call by Kohli an even better one given the Englishman had advanced down the pitch.

And that wasn’t all as far as Siraj’s powerplay contributions went — he would run Harpreet Bhatia out with a brilliant throw at the non-striker’s end from mid off, showing that the day well and truly belonged to him.

Bangalore had reasons to worry during the interval — they were, after all, cruising at 137 for no loss at the end of the 15th over with Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli well set at the crease, but ended up falling six short of the 180-mark while losing four wickets in the slog overs.

A solid display from the Punjab top-order then could have put the home team well and truly on top and given them the ideal platform to chase the 175-run target down.

And while the in-form Dhawan was missing from the lineup after failing to recover in time from a shoulder injury that he picked up during the match against Gujarat Titans, Punjab still had hard-hitting opening batter Prabhsimran, Livingstone as well as the middle-order trio of stand-in skipper Sam Curran, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma and M Shahrukh Khan to see them through.

Thanks to Siraj’s efforts, along with an excellent opening over from Wanindu Hasaranga that saw the dismissal of Australian Matthew Short, Punjab ended up losing four wickets in the powerplay and it was always going to be an uphill climb from there.

In Photos: Faf, Kohli and Siraj’s heroics help RCB beat PBKS

“If I pick wickets in the powerplay, the opposition is put under pressure. The lockdown was very important for me. I was quite down before that because I used to be expensive earlier. I focussed on my gym training, on my bowling and I wanted to do well. Even in the ODIs, my rhythm was good, my confidence was high and I have brought that into this season of the IPL,” Siraj said in the post-match presentation ceremony, where he was named Player of the Match.

Siraj, though, was by no means done after his powerplay exploits. Jitesh, after all, had injected hope in the Punjab dugout late in the chase with some confident strokeplay, bringing the equation down to 30 off 18 with three wickets in hand.

The Hyderabadi seamer was brought back one last time in the 18th over, and rattled the stumps twice in a space of four deliveries to send Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis back to the dugout, putting Bangalore on the verge of victory. Harshal Patel then collected the winning wicket the following over as Jitesh sliced a slower delivery towards backward point as Bangalore sealed a 24-run triumph.

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