Royal Challengers Bangalore Beats Kings XI Punjab By 4 Wickets

8th match (N), Indian Premier League at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, Apr 13, 2018
Kings XI Punjab 155 in 19.2 overs (KL Rahul 47, R Ashwin 33, Umesh Yadav 3-23) lost to
Royal Challengers Bangalore 159-6 in 19.3 overs (AB de Villiers 57, Quinton de Kock 45, R Ashwin 2-30) by 4 wickets.

Man of the Match: Umesh Yadav, for his sensational spell of 4-0-23-3.

Royal Challengers Bangalore sealed their first points in VIVO IPL 2018 after they beaten Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday night. After endearing the toss and electing to bowl, the RCB bowlers sacked the visitors for 155. Their reply wasn’t without drama; Brendon McCullum was canned the second ball of the hunt and Virat Kohli was dismissed for 21, but AB de Villiers batted unwearyingly and blasted at just the right time to incline the gauges back in favor of his team. Courtesy his half-century, and his 59-run partnership with Mandeep Singh, RCB got over the finish line in the final over.

Kings XI Punjab got off to a blustery start with their opening pair adding 32 in the first three overs. But the good work done by the openers came undone after Umesh Yadav struck thrice in the fourth over. KL Rahul, who would be the top-scorer of the innings, and Karun Nair re-energized the innings with a 58-run partnership. Their firings in consecutive overs once again wrecked the innings. Ravichandran Ashwin made 33, his highest score in the IPL to take KXIP to a reputable store.

AB de Villiers walked out to bat after Virat Kohli was dismissed in the fifth over. De Villiers’ innings was of two portions; he had 34 from 32 balls at the end of sixteen overs, when he decided to swing components. He picked out the teenager Mujeeb ur Rahman and hit him for two outrageous sixes. In the following over, he placed a Mohit Sharma slower ball deep into the stands at long-on.

De Villiers was dismissed at the start of the nineteenth over when he picked out deep point; but his 57 – made from 40 balls – had almost done the job.

Barring Chris Woakes, all the remaining RCB bowlers had a good trip. The standout performer though was Umesh Yadav; the pacer conceded 10 runs off his first over but came back strongly to pick up three wickets in his second over. 

For Kings XI Punjab, their captain R Ashwin was the most successful bowler. Ashwin finished his four overs with figures of 2-30. Mujeeb ur Rahman was the other standout bowler for the visitors; the youngster finished with respectable figures of 4-0-29-1.