With this win, the Punjab Kings climb to second spot in the standings, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru drop to fourth. These two teams will lock horns again in an afternoon game in Mullanpur on Sunday, 20th April, but that’s for later. On Saturday, 19th April, a double-header awaits us. The first game of the day will see the Gujarat Titans taking on the Delhi Capitals at 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT). This will be followed by the Rajasthan Royals squaring off against the Lucknow Super Giants at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT). As always, our build-up for both games will begin a lot sooner. See you then. Cheers!

Tim David is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his quickfire fifty, albeit in a losing cause. He says batting lower in the order gives him time to assess the conditions, and the practice pitches also played similarly here, which helped. Talks about his role and feels he is batting well and contributing, and will do what the team and coaches ask of him. Adds that going hard from ball one is something that a player will have to become comfortable with and he is pleased with how he is doing it so far, and says it was trickier in this game with not many wickets left. Talks about the importance of finding a way to turn things around at home and jokes about coming hard at Punjab at their home next. 

The captain of the Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer, says that it's always good to experience different kinds of games and conditions. Mentions that they took wickets regularly, with Marco Jansen being particularly lethal with the ball. Acknowledges the importance of steadying the ship in the middle overs and how the bowlers adapted well to the conditions, with hard length balls proving difficult for the batters to handle. He commends his bowlers for executing their plans fantastically and emphasises the need for one batter to take charge in such situations. States that he is pleased that Nehal Wadhera played that role and guided his team over the line. Hopes that Nehal continues to perform in this manner moving forward. Feels that Yuzvendra Chahal has probably been the bowler of the season so far and the chat with him was about not being defensive and always going for the wickets.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Marco Jansen is in for a chat. He says he is feeling very good about the win and about the conditions too, as there was a little pace and bounce in the wicket. Tells that everyone has a role in the team, and accordingly, whatever role he gets, he is happy to do that to the best of his ability. He mentions he is used to taking the new ball upfront, but the team has a lot of players who can take wickets upfront, and that’s why he is ready to be used in the overs his team needs him. States that Iyer’s captaincy is very good and that he is very clear on the field. Adds that Iyer knows what is expected from the bowlers, and accordingly, it works either way. Mentions that they have lots of talks in the nets while practising, and thus it helps. He jokingly says he didn’t dive to take the catch, but he fell over. Shares that having someone like Yuzvendra Chahal is great. Further says that it helps the seamers upfront to go aggressive, as they know that there will be a bowler like him in the middle overs who can take wickets.

Rajat Patidar, the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, says initially the wicket was two-paced, but also agrees that they could have done better as a batting unit. Adds that building partnerships is crucial, and losing wickets at regular intervals didn't help. Says dropping Devdutt Padikkal was a tough call, but was done keeping the surface in mind. Appreciates the way Punjab Kings played and says they take a lot of learning, and concludes that they are in a good frame of mind and will look to do better going ahead.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer had no hesitation in opting to bowl first in a rain-curtailed 14-over contest. RCB went too hard at the start and didn’t give themselves enough time to assess the conditions. PBKS were sharp with the ball and equally alert in the field to capitalise, reducing RCB to 42/7 at one stage. However, Tim David's maiden IPL fifty brought some respectability to the total, lifting them to 95.

With only 96 runs to chase, the Punjab Kings did lose both openers early, but not before getting a couple of boundaries away. There was never any real scoreboard pressure, but to their credit, RCB didn’t let PBKS run away with it either. Josh Hazlewood led the charge and even gave them a glimmer of hope with a double strike. However, Nehal Wadhera was the calming influence Punjab needed. He batted with maturity, guiding his side over the line and ensuring they didn’t botch the chase.

Back-to-back wins for the Punjab Kings! After that blip in Hyderabad, where they couldn't defend 245, the Kings have bounced back in style with a couple of statement victories. As for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, it’s now three home defeats on the trot. Sent in to bat, they never really came to grips with the steep bounce on offer. They had more time than they thought with the bat and simply didn’t put enough runs on the board.

Marcus Stoinis is in next.