Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) crushed Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in match 48 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Indore. RCB put up a spectacular bowling display to dismiss KXIP for just 88 runs in 15.1 overs. Skipper Virat Kohli (48*) and Parthiv Patel (40*) then chased down the total in 8.1 overs with 10 wickets to spare.
Chasing 88, Kohli decided to promote himself up the order to end things early and he did that in style. Kohli and Patel unleashed a flurry of shots right from the first over onwards, as they powered RCB to 66/0 after six overs. That was also RCB’s best total from the Powerplay overs this season. Post the Powerplay, RCB needed just 2.1 overs as Kohli ended KXIP’s misery with a four down fine leg.
Find the full match scorecard here.
Earlier in the day, RCB won the toss and sent in Punjab to bat first. KXIP got off to a good start with KL Rahul (21) and Chris Gayle (18) putting together 36 runs for the first wicket. Man of the Match, Umesh Yadav then scalped both openers in the fifth over with two lethal bouncers. Immediately after that Karun Nair was next to go thanks to another short delivery this time served by Mohammed Siraj. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled out Marcus Stoinis with a peach and post that KXIP kept bleeding wickets. Barring their openers and Aaron Finch (26) none of the other batsmen were able to reach double figures, with Ashwin and Tye returning with ducks to their names. RCB finally bowled out the home side in 15.1 overs for just 88 runs, the second lowest total this IPL season.
Catch all the highlights from the game here.
Turning point
Umesh Yadav’s double whammy in the fifth over, dismissing both Rahul and Gayle was the definite turning point of the game. Despite being hit for a few boundaries, Yadav persisted with the shorter delivery and finally got both of his men caught at deep square leg as they mistimed their pull shots.
Best Dismissal
Yuzvendra Chahal who was bowling his first over, sent down a floating Yorker which crept under Marcus Stoinis’ bat and crashed into his middle stump. Stoinis was slow to read the flight of the delivery and to add to his confusion it was the googly by Chahal that completely bamboozled the Australian all rounder.
Batsman of the Match
Virat Kohli who ended the night unbeaten on 48 is our ‘Batsman of the Match’. In a game where only two RCB batsmen were required to finish things, Virat batted with his usual confidence and style as he came out looking to end things early to boost his team’s net run rate
Bowler of the Match
Umesh Yadav who ended the night with figures of 3/23 and an economy rate of just 5.75 is the undisputed ‘Bowler of the Match’. His dismissals of the both KXIP openers in a single over turned the game in RCB’s favor as Punjab never recovered from that double blow.
Captain’s views
Virat Kohli (RCB captain): The last one week has been very crazy for us. Now, we're sitting in a great position. We just have to win our two remaining games. I couldn't have asked for a more clinical performance from us. I thought Kings thought we'd be intimidated by their openers. We just kept them in check. The key was taking wickets at regular intervals. With their mystery spinner not playing, we wanted to put extra pressure on their batsmen. It's the perfect day for us. We want to take responsibility as batsmen, and we fancy chasing down. If me and AB get going in the middle order, we can take the game away from the opposition. I think we have got the right kind of momentum. We've got nothing to lose. We're not going to get ahead of ourselves.
Ravichandran Ashwin (KXIP captain): That wasn't a professional effort at all for us. Our batsmen have struggled more often than not. We've got to keep our chins up. We've got to win two games. We haven't got through the 20 overs only three or four down. The wheels came off at the wrong time. It's a quick turnaround now. It's time to try and put Mumbai to bed. Most of these guys have played cricket for a very long time. A lot of international cricketers didn't step up.
What’s next?
Punjab travel to Mumbai for their next fixture when they take on the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. RCB travel back home where they will host table toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
Points table
In spite of their win, RCB remain in seventh position on the table, tied on 10 points with the Mumbai Indians. Punjab moved down to fifth position tied on 12 points with Kolkata and Rajasthan, but behind both teams due to their net run rate. Check out the updated points table here.
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