New Chandigarh, May 29: Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood picked stunning three-fers each as Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowled out Punjab Kings for a paltry 101 in 14.1 overs in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 clash at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

Right from the toss, everything went RCB’s way, as leg-spinner Suyash and a returning Hazlewood took 3-17 and 3-21 respectively to rip apart PBKS’ batting line-up and ensure the visitors require just 102 runs to win the match and to book a direct spot in the final, set to happen on June 3.

PBKS had a wobbly start as Priyansh Arya played a drive away from the body, giving a simple catch to cover off Yash Dayal. But Prabhsimran got the innings going by whipping Dayal for six, before carting Bhuvneshwar for back-to-back boundaries. Bhuvneshwar, though, had the last laugh as he found Prabhsimran’s thin edge on a short ball and was caught easily by the keeper.

PBKS’ woes deepened as skipper Shreyas Iyer went for an almighty hoick off Hazlewood and gave a thick edge behind to the keeper. The pacer again struck in the last over of power-play by having Josh Inglis caught at deep fine-leg before a four and six from Marcus Stoinis ensured PBKS closed the six-over phase at 48/4.

But there was no end to PBKS’ downward procession as Nehal Wadhera flattened his leg-stump after chopping on off Dayal, while Shashank Singh was castled through the gate off a googly by Suyash. Impact substitute Musheer Khan lasted only three balls, as Suyash went past his swipe across the line and trapped him LBW in front of the leg stump.

Though Stoinis tried to wage a fightback, he was stopped in this pursuit by Suyash, who castled him through the gate with a googly yet again. Azmatullah Omarzai’s four and six off Suyash, along with a boundary from Kyle Jamieson, got PBKS to reach the three-figure mark, with Hazlewood bagging his three-fer when Jitesh Sharma leapt full-stretch to his right and completed a stunning grab.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 101 all out in 14.1 overs (Marcus Stoinis 26, Prabhsimran Singh 18; Suyash Sharma 3-17, Josh Hazlewood 3-21) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru

--IANS

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