Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 3 (ANI): A valiant effort from Royal Challengers Bengaluru set a fighting 191-run target for Punjab Kings in the title clash of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Counter-attacking knocks from Jitesh Sharma (24 from 10 deliveries) and Virat Kohli (43 from 35 balls) powered RCB to 190/9. Still, Arshdeep Singh (3/40) and Kyle Jamieson's (3/48) searing three-wicket hauls denied Bengaluru a 200-run mark.

After being put to bat by Punjab, Arshdeep deployed short-length approach ploy and Phil Salt embraced the opportunity with both hands in the opening over. He hammered the ball over the long leg and sent the ball sailing over the boundary rope for a maximum.

On the fifth delivery, Salt swivelled the ball across the line, and the ball marginally fell short of the rope and bounced away for a four. With Salt coming in and all guns blazing, Bengaluru ended with 13 runs in the opening over.

With runs flowing swiftly, Salt (16) took the aerial route in the next over against Kyle Jamieson but couldn't get the desired distance. Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer safely held the ball in his hands to draw the first blood.

Bengaluru retaliated with a couple of boundaries and finished the powerplay with 55/1 on the board.

Right after the powerplay, Mayank Agarwal (24) tried to take on Punjab's premier spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal but swung his bat a fraction too early. The ball soared high and lobbed down to Arshdeep in the deep.

Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, the former and current captains, tried to form a partnership to see off the middle overs and set the stage for the climax.

Virat anchored the innings while Patidar took the brunt of taking risks on his shoulders. He succeeded a couple of times in his venture, but Jamieson trapped Patidar in front of the stumps in the 11th over .

Patidar had shuffled across the crease to make room for a shot but missed the ball completely. He knew taking a review would be futile and returned on 26(16).

Liam Livingstone joined Virat at the crease, and the duo spun Chahal inside out to take 14 runs from the over. However, the momentum swung in Punjab's favour after Virat's top edge landed straight back into Azmatullah Omarzai's hands, forcing the franchise icon to return on 43(35).

Jitesh Sharma notched back-to-back sixes off Jamieson to turn up the much-needed run flow in the 17th over. Jamieson struck back to pin Livingstone (25) in front of the stumps to take the momentum back from Bengaluru.

Romario Shepherd survived after substitute Praveen Dubey dropped his mistimed slog. Vijaykumar Vyshak cleaned up Jitesh Sharma to pull the curtains down on his 24-run blitzkrieg from 10 deliveries.

Shepherd reeled off a four and a towering maximum in the last two deliveries of the penultimate over. Shepherd tried to take on Arshdeep but got pinned in front of the stumps, courtesy of the left-armer's searing yorker.

Krunal Pandya followed Shepherd's footsteps after he holed it straight to Shreyas. Arshdeep capped off the innings with Bhuvneshwar Kumar's scalp as Bengaluru settled for 190/9. (ANI)