Arshdeep's dominance over Salt continues in T20s

Salt, opening for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), was dismissed for one run as Arshdeep drew first blood for the hosts.

This latest dismissal marks the fourth time Arshdeep has removed Salt in T20 cricket, all in 32 deliveries faced by the batter. Across these matchups, Salt has managed 25 runs at a strike rate of 78.12, clearly struggling to find rhythm against the Indian quick. Significantly, Arshdeep has dismissed Salt in four of their last five T20 encounters, underlining a lopsided battle between the two.

Chasing a target of 158 set by Punjab Kings, RCB needed a solid start at the top. However, Arshdeep's early strike ensured Punjab had the upper hand from the outset, continuing his fine form against one of RCB's key overseas players.

Earlier, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru spinners played a pivotal role in restricting Punjab Kings to 157/6.

After winning the toss, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar opted to bowl first, a decision that proved effective, thanks to disciplined spells from his spin duo, Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. While Pandya finished with figures of 2/25, Suyash was equally impressive, bagging 2/26 in his four overs.

PBKS got off to a flying start, with openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh launching a quickfire partnership of 42 runs. However, Krunal Pandya broke the momentum by dismissing Arya for 22. Punjab brought up their fifty in just 5.1 overs and reached 62/1 at the end of the powerplay but the flow of runs soon dried up after Pandya struck again just after the powerplay, removing the dangerous Prabhsimran Singh for 33.

The middle order struggled to build momentum, with captain Shreyas Iyer falling for a sluggish 6 off 10 balls to Romario Shepherd, who was playing his first match of the season. A mix-up between Nehal Wadhera and Josh Inglis led to a run out, sending Wadhera back for just 5.

Inglis, however, showed some resistance with a handy 29 off 17 deliveries before being bowled by the crafty Suyash Sharma. The leg-spinner soon added another to his tally by cleaning up Marcus Stoinis for just 1, leaving Punjab reeling at 114/6 in 13.5 overs.

It was then left to South African all-rounder Marco Jansen and Shashank Singh to steady the ship. The duo stitched together an unbeaten 41-run stand for the seventh wicket, guiding PBKS to a respectable total. Shashank remained unbeaten on 31 off 33 balls, while Jansen contributed a valuable 25 off 20 deliveries.