IPL KXIP vs RCB Match Report: Finally, Kings XI Punjab break the jinx but not before a comical drama

(Image credit: IPL/BCCI/Twitter)

Not even a dozen batsmen have hit the last-ball for a six in IPL to win a match. Although, Punjab needed just a single to win on the last ball yet the West Indian Nicholas Pooran exhibited a rare-dare-devilry from KXIP which has been so desperately missing in their entire campaign so far.

Normally, an eight-wicket win will count as a thumping win especially in a tournament where chases have not been easy and only once a bigger total than 172 has been chased this year. However, it was a match full of weird decisions and twists and turns which defied all kinds of logic. Punjab can only say all’s well that ends well after registering their only second win and incidentally against the same opponents RCB on Thursday night.

It was going so smooth and then came the twist

Before the death overs could begin, RCB was almost dead in the match as KXIP needed mere 46 runs to win off the last 5 overs. An early finish looked inevitable when 20 runs were looted in a single Mohammed Siraj over. With Orange cap holder KL Rahul playing magnificently and on the other side was Chris Gayle, the equation of 11 runs off the final 18 balls looked a simple formality.

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Inexplicably, the 18^th over saw only 4 runs, even bizarre was the next one which went for just 5 runs!  “It was quite surprising, because it went down to the wire. A bit of pressure can confuse you,” said RCB skipper Kohli after the match and even conceded that match should have been over by the 18^th over itself.

An unreal script

It looked so unreal when the first four balls of the 20th over went for a single. Now, Punjab was back in an all-too-familiar territory of needing a single run off last two balls.

And then Gayle got run out. Eventually, Pooran settled this with a nonchalant six off Yuzvendra Chahal to calm down the nerves of entire Punjab team.

“I have no idea, it's (heart beat) the highest it can be. I don't even have words. We knew we had to scrape and get over the line. We are a far better side than where we are in the points table. It just got too close for comfort, happy that we crossed the line,” said Man of the Match KL Rahul after the game.

Questionable decisions by RCB

If KXIP’s fumble in the last moment is a regular feature of this IPL, many moves and decisions by the RCB can’t be just dismissed by using the word strange.

How on earth a team can justify the tactic of pushing AB de Villiers down to No. 6 to ‘apparently save’ him from the leg-spinners like Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin? That was the biggest faux pas in a match where there were baffling batting order changes and Chahal not even finishing his full quota of overs will be spoken about for a long time.

“We had a chat, it (AB batting at no. 6) was a message about the left-hand, right-hand combination. Sometimes these decisions you take, don't come off,” explained Kohli later in his post match presentation chat with the host broadcaster.

Gayle storm was back!

The self-appointed Universal Boss Chris Gayle didn’t get an opportunity to open in the match but he played his part by scoring 53 runs in 45 balls which had 5 sixes. Gayle tried to appear cool and shrug off his team’s nervousness in his quintessential effervescent mannerism.

“Not really. Come on man, it is the Universe Boss batting, how can I be nervous. I might give you a heart attack, I thought I had it in the bag but stranger things have happened in cricket,” said Chris Gayle after the match.

KXIP skipper himself hit unbeaten 61 and was supported by Mayank Agarwal’s 45 at the top order but did acknowledge the mighty presence of Gayle in the team.

“It was a tough call to make and not make him play. It's important to keep the lion hungry. Wherever he bats, he's dangerous. He's taken it up as a challenge as well. He'll still be intimidating,” concluded Rahul after the match.

For RCB, none could get a fifty in the match with Kohli scoring 48 as the highest individual total. On bowling front, KXIP will be immensely pleased with Chris Jordan’s effort (3 overs, 20 runs and 1 wicket) who has been very expensive in all the matches before this encounter.

(Vimal Kumar has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. The author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide can be reached @Vimalwa on Twitter)  

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