IPL 10: Kings XI Punjab beat Royal Challengers Bangalore

Bengaluru: Kings XI Punjab kept their hopes for a knockout spot alive with a 19-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. Chasing a 139 to win, RCB batsmen failed to fire once again as they finished with 119 in 19 overs.

Keep aside Mandeep Singh’s 40-ball-46, there was little to show for the home side’s batting. A fiery opening spell from Sandeep Sharma (3/22) removed Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers right off the bat before Mohit Sharma’s delicious slow ball put paid to Kedar Jadhav as RCB slumped to 52/4.

Following yet another uninspired innings by Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell removed Mandeep before Axar Patel (3/11) cleaned up the tailenders.

KXIP remain fifth, three points off Sunrisers Hyderabad with one game in hand coming into the business end of the tournament.

Earlier, RCB restricted Kings XI Punjab to 138/7 with some sellar bowling effort by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/21) and Aniket Choudhary (2/17). Had it not been for a late assault by Axar Patel (38, 17b, 3x4, 2x6), it could have been much worse for the visitors.

RCB brought back Gayle and Samuel Badree in place of Travis Head and the injured Adam Milne. The home side got off to a strong start as they removed dangerman Hashim Amla in the fifth ball. The South African chose to walk after edging Aniket Choudhary to Kedar Jadhav amidst barely half-hearted appeals.

Martin Guptill followed soon after as Kohli rotated his bowlers smartly. RCB conceded just 35 runs in power play. Shaun Marsh (20, 17b, 3x4) and Manan Vohra tried to steady the innings but Pawan Negi had the former’s number, opting to bowl around the wicket to remove the Australian.

Struggling at 39/3, Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha’s fourth-wicket stand for 21 runs gave the visitors some breathing space. Walking in at 78/5, Axar had the arduous task of keeping his team in the running and he delivered.

Scorecard

Kings XI Punjab: H. Amla c Jadhav b Choudhary 1, M. Guptill c Negi b Aravind 9, S. Marsh c Mandeep b Negi 20, M. Vohra c de Villiers b Chahal 25, W. Saha b Watson 21, G. Maxwell c Badree b Chahal 6, A. Patel (not out) 38, M. Sharma c Jadhav b Choudhary 6, V. Aaron (not out) 0. Extras (b 8, lb 1, w 3) 12. Total (for 7 wickets in 20 overs) 138.
FoW: 1-2, 2-18, 3-39, 4-61, 5-78, 6-112, 7-119.
Bowling: Choudhary 4-1-17-2, Aravind 2-0-13-1, Watson 4-0-43-1, Badree 3-0-14-0, Negi 3-0-21-1, Chahal 4-0-21-2.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mandeep Singh b Maxwell 46, C. Gayle c Guptill b Sandeep Sharma 0, V. Kohli b Sandeep Sharma 6, AB de Villiers c Saha b Sandeep Sharma 10, K. Jadhav c Patel b Sharma 6, S. Watson c Saha b Patel 3, P. Negi c Saha b Patel 21, S. Aravind lbw b Maxwell 4, S. Badree b patel 8, A. Choudhary c Guptill b Sharma 4, Y. Chahal not out 4. Extras: (lb-4, w-3) 7. Total: (all out; 19 overs) 119.
Fow: 1-1, 23-2, 37-3, 52-4, 71-5, 73-6, 87-7, 111-8, 111-9, 119-10.
Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-22-3, T. Natarajan 1-0-15-0, V. Aaron 4-0-28-0, M. Sharma 4-0-24-2, A. Patel 3-0-11-3, G. Maxwell 3-0-15-2.

Infographic