Bengaluru, April 24: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) secured yet another victory and kept their chances of making it to the play-offs alive as they defeated Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 17 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Wednesday (April 24).
Virat Kohli-led RCB would take a lot of confidence from their back-to-back victories against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and now against Punjab. With this win, Royal Challengers went one step above in the points table. They are climbed to seventh spot in the points table.
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AB de Villiers once again proved why he's called Mr 360 as he powered his team to a respectable 202/4 in 20 overs as he plundered unbeaten 82 off 44 deliveries. His partnership of 131 off 60 deliveries with Marcus Stoinis (46) ensured the hosts have a decent runs on the board to defend in the absence of Dale Steyn at the top.
Opener Parthiv Patel (43 off 24) gave Royal Challengers an explosive start despite losing skipper Virat Kohli (13) early in the powerplay. Parthiv, Moeen Ali (4) and Akshdeep Nath's (3) dismissal in between 7th and 9th over put RCB off-track as Punjab spinners put a brake on the flow of runs.
But De Villiers and Stoinis steered the team through the troubled waters and exploded in the death overs as they amassed 69 runs from the last 4 overs and posted a sub-par total on belter Chinnaswamy track.
In response, Punjab started well in the run chase as Chris Gayle (23 off 10) and KL Rahul (42 off 27) looked in sublime form but none of the visiting batsman could capitalise upon the good start and kept losing their wickets at regular intervals after playing aggressive cameos.
In the end West Indies wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran (46 off 28) gave RCB bowlers a scare as he attacked Washington Sundar for three consecutive sixes in an over and tried to keep his team on the track in the run chase but he didn't get any assistance from the other end and perished while fighting alone.
RCB have thus won their games on the trot while KXIP have lost their fourth consecutive game.
Here's how match between RCB and KXIP panned out:
It's all over!! Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kings XI Punjab by 17 runs. They've kept their playoffs hopes alive.
Virat Kohli drops M Ashwin at long-on. 22nd dropped catch by RCB.
Wicket! Viljoen departs on the first ball duck. Parthiv Patel takes a brilliant catch behind the stumps. Umesh is on a hat-trick. KXIP - 182/7 in 19.3 overs.
Wicket! R Ashwin (6) hits Umesh down the ground and Virat Kohli takes a well-judged catch at long-on. KXIP - 182/6 in 19.2 overs. They need 21 from 4 balls.
Wicket! Nicholas Pooran (46) skies it again but this time it was ABD right beneath it. Saini gets another wicket. KXIP - 176/5 after 19 overs. 27 needed from 6.
Wicket! Brilliant running catch in the deep by AB de Villiers and with that David Miller's knock comes to an end for 24. Saini gets the much-needed breakthrough. KXIP - 173/4 in 18.1 overs.
1,1,1,1Wd,1,0! 6 came from that over bowled by Umesh. KXIP - 173/3 after 18 overs. 30 needed from 12 balls.
Dropped! Pooran skies it and Marcus Stoinis puts down a sitter in the deep. Fielding has been RCB's weakness. They have dropped 21 catches in the tournament.
1,1,1! Umesh bowls the 18th over and concedes just three from first three.
4,4,1,1,0,1! 11 runs came from that Southee over. The NZ pacer pulled things back after getting hit for two boundaries. KXIP - 167/3 after 17 overs. 36 needed from 18 balls.
Four, Four! Tim Southee has been introduced in the 17th over and Miller gets back-to-back boundaries. KXIP - 164/3 in 16.2 overs.
6,0,6!! Nicholas Pooran his looking in sublime touch tonight. He gets two maximums off Moeen Ali in three deliveries. He and Miller have forged a partnership of 51 off 35 deliveries. Could this be Pooran and Miller's night?
0,4,1,2,0,1!! 8 runs came from that over bowled by Navdeep Saini. Nicholas Pooran got a boundary in that over but the pacer made a recovery later on. KXIP - 143/3 in 15 overs. 60 required from 30 deliveries.
6,6,0,6,0,1! Nicholas Pooran freed his hands in the over bowled by Sundar and hammered 3 sixes in that over. 19 runs came from it. KXIP 135/3 after 14 overs.
0,0,1,0,1,0! Brilliant start from Washington Sundar in his first game of the season. KXIP - 110/3 after 12 overs.
Wicket! KL Rahul (47) attacks Moeen Ali on the first delivery but failed to get the elevation and distance. Tim Southee takes a simple catch in the deep. KXIP - 105/3 in 10.1 overs.
The wicket of Rahul has massive repercussions for this match. @lionsdenkxip now have two left-handers at the crease and @RCBTweets have eight overs of off spin up their sleeve. Pooran will enjoy the short boundaries at the Chinnaswamy thought. #IPL #RCBvKXIP
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 24, 2019
W,0,1,1,1,1! 4 runs and the big wicket of Mayank Agarwal came from that over bowled by Stoinis. KXIP - 105/2 after 10 overs. They need 98 from 60 deliveries.
Wicket! Mayank Agarwal (35 off 20) gives a simple catch to Chahal and Stoinis breaks the 50-run stand in his second over. KXIP - 101/2 after 9.1 overs.
It's getting hot in here 🔥🔥#RCBvKXIP pic.twitter.com/8Z8Svr6MYd
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2019
100 comes up for Kings in the 9th over and also 50-run partnership between Mayank and Rahul. KXIP - 101/1 after 9 overs.
8.3 - SIX!! Mayank Agarwal hits Chahal for a maximum down the ground. 8.4 - Mayank takes a double 8.5 - Gets a boundary towards mid-wicket.
9 came from that over bowled by Marcus Stoinis. KXIP - 86/1 after 8 overs. They need 117 from 72 deliveries.
KL Rahul becomes the fastest Indian to score 3000 T20 runs.
Congratulations @klrahul11 on becoming the fastest Indian to score 3000 T20 runs 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/KDi6JMcT2G
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2019
KXIP - 77/1 after 7 overs. Local boys KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are batting.
0,6,4,0,1,1! KL Rahul plays two breathtaking shots against Chahal. 12 runs came from that over. RCB - 68/1 after 6 overs.
Four, Four! Mayank Agarwal gets back-to-back boundaries off Southee. Fifty up for Kings XI Punjab in the big run chase. KXIP - 56/1 after 4.3 overs.
Four! KL Rahul flicks Umesh Yadav for a boundary towards the leg side. KXIP - 48/1 after 4 overs. They need 154 from the next 16 overs.
Wicket! Chris Gayle (23) looked to hit Umesh in the same area for a consecutive six but failed to clear it as ABD took a simple catch in the deep. KXIP 42/1 after 3.2 overs.
SIX!! Low full toss from Umesh Yadav and Chris Gayle hits him over long-on for a maximum. KXIP - 42/0 in 3.1 overs.
Four, Four! Back-to-back boundaries from KL Rahul off Navdeep Saini. The visitors have hit three boundaries in every over so far.
Another milestone for Sadda Sher, 3⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ T20 runs for @klrahul11! 👏#SaddaPunjab #RCBvKXIP #VIVOIPL #KXIP
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 24, 2019
1Wd,4,4,0,0,0,0! Some recovery from Umesh Yadav after getting hammered for two boundaries. KXIP - 23/0 after 2 overs.