RCB vs PBKS Man of the Match today: Who was awarded Man of the Match in Bangalore vs Punjab IPL 2021 match?

RCB vs PBKS Man of the Match: The all-rounder from Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match award for scoring his 11th IPL half-century.

During the 48th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings in Sharjah, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs to confirm a playoff berth after winning their eighth match of the season.

Chasing a 165-run target, Punjab ended up on the losing side in an almost must-win match despite a 91-run opening stand between captain Lokesh Rahul (39) and Mayank Agarwal (57). With Rahul and Agarwal hitting seven fours and four sixes between them, Kings were very much in the chase till the halfway mark.

However, losing wickets from the 11th over saw them giving away all the progress made by their opening batters. Royal Challengers spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who dismissed Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (3) and Sarfaraz Khan (0) for just 29 runs in his four-over spell, was the pick of the bowlers for his team. In addition to Chahal, George Garton and Shahbaz Ahmed picked a wicket apiece.

RCB vs PBKS Man of the Match IPL 2021

After RCB captain Virat Kohli (25) won the toss and chose to bat, his team put on board a competitive 164/7 in 20 overs primarily due to all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s fifth half-century of the season.

Coming in to bat at No. 4 at the halfway mark, Maxwell scored 57 (33) with the help of three fours and four sixes which included some eye-catching shots. Maxwell, who has become Royal Challengers’ top run-getter this season after amassing 407 runs at an average and strike rate of 40.70 and 145.35 respectively, was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ today for scoring his 11th IPL half-century.

“Came in at a nice time to bat. Lucky to hit the first couple of risks out of the middle. I feel like the last two years of IPL I have batted nicely. To have it set up by the openers today gave us some time to get an idea of the wicket.

“Coming into RCB they wanted me to do the exact same role [as with Australia]. This [Sharjah] is probably the most difficult to adjust to. The spinners get it to skid on which means you have to be sharper at the start of your innings,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.