Ahmedabad, June 3 (IANS) Bowling first on a pitch that looked good for batting and a mix of red and black soil, Punjab Kings bowled to a well-thought-out plan to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to 190/9 in 20 overs, which is being considered at least 30 runs short of a target they would have loved to reach.

PBKS pacer Kyle Jamieson played a key role in thwarting RCB’s plans of posting a massive score as he granned 3-48 in his four overs. The 30-year-old pacer from New Zealand made the breakthrough by getting the dangerous Phil Salt (16). Though Jitesh Sharma destroyed his figures by blasting three sixes in a 23-run fourth over (17th over the innings), Jamieson made a vital contribution for PBKS.

The lanky pacer felt that the score of 191 was chasable because the pitch was still playing well.

“Has to be good enough for us. Good surface, slower balls weren’t sticking in as much as they were the other day,” Jamieson told the broadcaster in the mid-innings break.

The 30-year-old right-arm pacer said that bowling short was part of their plan as the slower ones were not as effective as they were two nights ago.

“Slower ones were effective two nights ago, going short was a plan we’d made. Tried to mix it up a bit with the full balls. Got wickets, Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) helped with one. My last over didn’t go to plan though,” said Jamieson.

Arshdeep Singh grabbed the top honours by claiming three wickets in the final over for figures of 3-40 as PBKS set themselves for a chase they would have loved any day.

–IANS

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