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Chandigarh: Kings XI Punjab put in a excellent bowling performance to edge out a convincing 22-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the rain-curtailed at Mohali on Wednesday.
The start was delayed due to rain, and had to be curtailed to 10 overs per side. There was no change in the points table, as RCB stay fifth in the points table, while KXIP remain last despite their win.
Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli got RCB off to a great start in their 107-run chase. Kohli was the aggressor in the opening stand, scoring 19 off nine balls with two fours and a six. His dismissal was a major turning point in the chase though, as neither Gayle nor AB de Villiers were timing the ball as well as they usually do.
Gayle was the next to go, edging behind to Wriddhiman Saha off Sandeep Sharma for 17 off 14 with one four and one six. Even ABD found it tough to get going, managing a mere 10 off nine balls with a solitary boundary.
Mandeep Singh, as he had done in the last rain-shortened game, started off well. He was not able to continue though, and ended up holing out to David Miller for 20 off 14 with two fours. In between, Dinesh Karthik was out for two. In the end, RCB were just never able to get the momentum needed to overhaul KXIP’s total.
Earlier, RCB bowled well to restrict KXIP to a reasonable 106 for six. Wriddhiman Saha walked out to open batting for KXIP. He took on Mitchell Starc in the first over, hitting back-to-back boundaries to get KXIP going. Saha went absolutely ballistic in the next over, bowled by Sreenath Aravind. He hit three fours and a six to loot 20 off the over.
Saha’s entertaining innings ended when he mis-hit David Wiese to Mandeep Singh, who took a terrific swirling catch. Saha’s 31 came off 12 balls with five fours and a six.
Glenn Maxwell came in at No. 3, but his poor form did not relent. Manan Vohra was the next to go, hitting Harshal Patel to Mandeep for 11 off six with one six. Maxwell was out in the same over, slogging to AB de Villiers at the deep midwicket boundary for a run-a-ball 10.
David Miller started off in tremendous fashion against Yuzvendra Chahal, hitting two sixes off his first two balls before stepping out and missing one from the leg-spinner. He was stumped by Dinesh Karthik for 14 off four balls.
At 71 for four, Akshar Patel and George Bailey did their best to try and score some quick runs. Harshal was terrific on the day, taking two for 12 in his two overs to stifle KXIP. Bailey was bowled by Chahal for 13 off nine as KXIP lost their fifth wicket.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab - 106/6 (Saha 32, Axar Patel 20*, Harshal Patel 2-12)
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 84/6 (Axar Patel 2-11, Anureet Singh 2-21)
Result - Kings XI Punjab won by 22 runs
Points - Kings XI Punjab 2, Royal Challengers Bangalore 0
