Cricket - Indian Premier League - IPL - Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Punjab Kings - M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India - April 18, 2025 Punjab Kings' Yuzvendra Chahal in action REUTERS/Stringer
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Royal Challengers Bengaluru's home stadium woes in the Indian Premier League continued with a third defeat of the season and like in their previous two matches, it was a former player of the team that played a big role in their downfall.
Bengaluru lost their opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium against Gujarat Titans this month after seamer Mohammed Siraj took three wickets, while another former player KL Rahul led Delhi Capitals to victory at the venue with an unbeaten 93.
It was the turn of Yuzvendra Chahal to heap misery on his former side on Friday and the spinner took 2-11, including the wicket of the dangerous Rajat Patidar, to help Punjab Kings secure a five-wicket win in a rain-shortened clash.
Fourth-placed Bengaluru have won all four of their away games in contrast and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said his team had to do much better in familiar conditions.
"Yeah it's three in a row that we've lost at home. 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," Australian Hazlewood told reporters.
"We'll dive into this game with a fine toothed comb and come up with ideas of where we can learn and improve. The bowling has definitely improved from the last two outings. Winning a toss would be nice as well."
Tim David's unbeaten 50 after a top-order collapse helped Bengaluru post 95-9 in their 14 overs but it was insufficient as Punjab chased down their target with 11 balls to spare thanks to Nehal Wadhera's 33 not out.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday before Bengaluru look to break their home jinx when they meet Rajasthan Royals, coached by former captain Rahul Dravid, next Thursday.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
