Courtesy: IPL/BCCI
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fast-bowling spearhead Josh Hazlewood has criticised his team after the five-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18. It was RCB’s third consecutive defeat at their home. Earlier, they registered losses against Gujarat Titans (GT) and Delhi Capitals (DC) while playing at the venue. Defending a total of 95 for Challengers, Hazlewood displayed his belligerent side and took 3/14 figures in his three-over spell. However, his numbers couldn’t evade the hosts’ defeat as Punjab chased down the total with 11 balls left.
Following the match, Hazlewood attended the post-match press conference and said that Challengers didn’t learn a lesson from their defeats against Gujarat Titans (GT) and Delhi Capitals (DC) at home. He also added that RCB’s poor batting in the first power play led to the team’s misery in the game. "Yeah, it's obviously three (defeats) in a row now at home. It's just we've probably been a bit slow on the learnings from the first two games and didn't put that into practice as well as we could have, probably in those first probably six to eight overs, obviously, with the score the way it was," said Hazlewood.
RCB to take on PBKS in Mullanpur on April 20 in IPL 2025
Challengers and PBKS will meet again on April 20 but this time, Mullanpur will be hosting the game between both sides. Punjab won their last home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while defending a low total of 111. After winning two back-to-back games confidently, Punjab will be upbeat to host RCB in Mullanpur.
RCB, on the other hand, will strive to bounce back in PBKS’ backyard in the Sunday blockbuster clash. Although Rajat Patidar and his boys lost their third game as hosts in Bengaluru, they will be confident with the fact that they haven’t lost any away matches in the tournament.
