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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ended the 18-year wait and finally won their first-ever IPL title on Tuesday, June 3. They did so by defeating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
RCB's bowlers made the difference against PBKS in the final
After a decent batting performance which saw the Bengaluru-based franchise put up a total of 190/9 on the board, it was their bowlers who once again made the difference and restricted the opposition to 184/7. RCB's Krunal Pandya was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his brilliant four-over spell of 2/17.
Despite the hearbreaking defeat, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting praised the team and stated that they have been highly entertaining to watch from the sidelines. He also said that they are going to win a lot of games going forward with the bunch of talented youngsters that they have.
"I can't speak highly enough for what those young boys have done through the tournament. I think I talked at the first press conference I had with Shreyas about becoming a daring, dynamic, and different team," Ponting said at the post-match press conference.
"On the back of that, what Prabh and Priyansh and [Nehal] Wadhera and these sort of guys were able to do, there's probably enough been said through the media over the last couple of months. The way that we've been able to play our cricket, it's been highly entertaining. For a coach to be able to sit back and say that about a team gives me a lot of satisfaction," he added.
Ponting also admitted that there is no excuse that the side can give for their defeat, adding that his side ended up losing momentum at a critical moment of the match.
"There's no excuse from us. Shashank at the end of the game, said that was the best wicket he has batted on for the whole season. We just lost a bit of momentum at a critical time in probably the last couple of overs of the powerplay, and we lost critical wickets," Ponting stated.
The former Australia cricketer assured that even though the side let the final slip from their hands, they will come back stronger next season.
"We've got it right for most of the year. It was only a couple of days ago that we were here celebrating one of our great wins for the season to get into the final, and today we probably feel that we've let one slip, but as I said, with this group being as young as it is, we'll be back bigger and stronger next season," Ponting concluded.
This was PBKS' second final in IPL history. Their previous appearance came in the 2014 season where they were defeated by the Kolkata Knight Riders in a nail-biter of a clash.
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