Shikhar Dhawan discusses the turning point in Punjab’s defeat to RCB: “We dropped a catch of the class player, we paid the price.”

A thrilling match took place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But the captain of PBKS, Shikhar Dhawan, couldn’t help but feel guilty about a pivotal moment that swung the tide against his side. With four balls remaining in the last over, RCB finally won the match by four wickets.

PBKS, who were requested to bat first, amassed a score of 176/6 in their 20 overs, driven by 45 from Dhawan and a few strikes from the lower order. When Virat Kohli received a lifeline in the third over, RCB was battling at 26/1. Kohli was on zero when Johny Bairstow, positioned at first slip, failed to make a fielding catch off the bowling of Sam Curran.

A brilliant 77 off only 49 balls from Kohli paid PBKS in full, setting up RCB for a potential win. Dhawan couldn’t contain his disappointment about the missed catch when he spoke during the post-match presentation. “Virat scored about 70 runs, and we lost a catch by a top player; we paid the price.” The momentum would have come from the second ball if we had made the catch. But we lost our momentum there, and we later had to pay the price,” Dhawan remarked.

Shikhar Dhawan: “I played a bit slow.”

The game was close, even with Kohli’s incredible skill. With RCB requiring 47 off 24 balls at 130/6 in the 16th over, it appeared all over until Dinesh Karthik produced a masterful performance, hammering an undefeated 28 off only 10 deliveries to get RCB across the finish line. Mahipal Lomror also made an outstanding cameo, scoring 17 off of eight deliveries.

“It was a good game; we brought the game back, and again, we lost it,” Dhawan said in reflection on his batting performance. We lost by ten to fifteen runs, and I played a little too slowly for the first six overs. We lost the catch as well as those ten to fifteen runs.”

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Dhawan was all praise for rookie spinner Harpreet Brar, who had amazing figures of 2/13 in his quota of four overs, even though he had his share of regrets. “He’s bowling well, especially bowling against left-handers. It’s tremendous the way he soaked up the pressure and got us the breakthroughs,” Dhawan said.

In their upcoming match on March 30 against the Lucknow Super Giants, PBKS will try to get back on track and win again. Following a loss in the season’s first game, RCB recorded their first win of the year. On March 29, the team captained by Faf du Plessis takes on the Kolkata Knight Riders.