IPL 2024: Shikhar Dhawan's 45 guides Punjab to 176 against RCB

Shikhar Dhawan during his 45 against RCB yesterday. Pic/PTI

Most franchises in the IPL have made their home venues somewhat of a fortress, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) can't claim that the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is their bastion. After all, out of 80 previous games in the IPL that have ended decisively at this venue, RCB have won 40 and lost as many.

Where RCB derive their strength from at the Chinnaswamy, instead, is from their legion of loyal fans who have stood by them through thick and thin for 16 years. The loyalists turned up in large numbers again on Monday for RCB's first home game of IPL 2024 and were witness to a topsy-turvy first half that ended with Punjab Kings finishing with a competitive but not gigantic 176 for six.

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The Chinnaswamy generally throws up belters which, allied with the shortish boundaries, facilitate a run-fest. This wasn't one such surface, the spongy bounce and a bit of assistance for the bowlers rendering shot-making anything but a straightforward proposition. Punjab's batsmen therefore struggled to impose themselves, shackled both by the discipline of the RCB pacers and the questions posed by the surface, seldom surging into the ascendancy after being pegged back by an outstanding opening spell by Yash Dayal.

The left-arm quick bowled three overs in the Powerplay for returns of none for 10, bottling one end up and hitting the Test-match lengths that elicited no aggressive response from Shikhar Dhawan (45), the Punjab captain, and the out of sorts Jonny Bairstow.

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