Punjab Kings’ stand-in captain Sam Curran showered praise on his bowling unit after their hard-fought defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 clash at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, April 20.

The PBKS bowlers made a strong comeback in the death overs to restrict RCB to 174/4 in their 20 overs.

The Kings’ left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar dismissed Virat Kohli (59) and Glenn Maxwell (0) in consecutive deliveries in the 17th over to bring the hosts back into the game.

Nathan Ellis later removed Faf du Plessis for 84, while Arshdeep Singh bagged the huge wicket of Dinesh Karthik (7) to keep RCB below 175.

“I thought we bowled really well as a group. The way Faf and Virat played was good. I did not think they got away from us too much,” skipper Curran said at the post-match presentation.

Chasing 175, the PBKS batters lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bowled out for 150 in 18.2 overs. 

Curran admitted that the Kings did not have enough runs on the board.

 “In the end, we just did not bat well enough. They bowled pretty well as well but we lost wickets. The conditions were quite strange as well. We thought it would rain at one stage, with all the lightning and thunder,” the 24-year-old added.

Curran also said that he is looking forward to facing the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede in their upcoming TATA IPL 2023 fixture.

“It was a really good wicket with good-sized boundaries, you want a fair contest between bat and ball. Just a couple of things with the bat that we might regret but we move on to Saturday. The games come thick and fast. We are playing in Mumbai on Saturday, it's a good wicket out there, and we're excited to play over there,” the England all-rounder stated.

With three wins and as many losses, the Kings are currently placed seventh in the TATA IPL 2023 standings.