Before coming out to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai on Friday night, Jonny Bairstow had scored a total of 104 runs (85 balls) in the previous five matches. It was with a 40-ball 56 against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday that the Punjab Kings wicketkeeper-batsman had got into the groove. But on Friday, the 32-year-old operated on a different plane, taking the RCB bowlers to the cleaners in Powerplay.
With his 29-ball 66 (4x4; 7x6) the Englishman got Punjab off to a dream start with 81 runs coming off the first six overs. If Bairstow powered the beginning, Liam Livingstone anchored the finish of Punjab’s innings with his 70 coming off 42 balls, which enabled Punjab to finish their quota with 209/9.
-copy-dd1f2bf0.jpeg?w=600)
