It was one of those days in Indian Premier League when the contest was so one-sided affair. However, RCB fans, the MI fans and the SRH fans would be the happy bunch of guys with the result. The loss certainly cut short one of the competitors for Mumbai Indians while Kane Williamson-led side is confirmed to play the qualifier-1 of the playoffs’ stage.
KXIP – Umesh Yadav and Co wrecks havoc to knock out KXIP for 88
Initially, it was Virat Kohli who won the all-important toss on a surface that has a huge reputation for chasing the tallies. Justifying the toss, Umesh Yadav once again showed his mojo against Kings XI Punjab to inject a double-wicket over in the game.
Photo by: Vipin Pawar / IPL/ SPORTZPICS
Once the openers walked back to the hut, Punjab continued their hobby of losing the wickets like a pack of cards in middle overs of the game. It was like a dream innings for RCB as each bowler handed a victory for the team whenever he was asked to roll his arm.
Though Finch looked like repairing the ship, he never got the chance to do so thus gone for a big hit only to find Virat Kohli‘s hands at the deep mid-wicket. Umesh Yadav was the wrecker-in-chief for RCB with 3 wickets to his name at the expense of 23 runs while Siraj, Chahal, Colin and Moeen Ali chipped in with each wicket. Interestingly, the rest of the three batsmen were dismissed in a run-out fashion.
RCB – Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli made a merry out of the conditions
In reply to the easy-peasy chase of 89 runs, the skipper, Virat Kohli and the stumper, Parthiv Patel walked out to the middle with an intention of pulling out the victory by bagging a solid net-run-rate in their kitty.
Both the openers went hard against the opposition whenever the shot is on offer. They accumulated 66 runs off the powerplay overs which is also their highest powerplay score of the season for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Skipper, Virat Kohli finished with 48* runs in his kitty while Parthiv Patel knocked 40* runs to his name. Both remained unbeaten to hand RCB a 10-wicket victory. However, the win ensured Royal Challengers Bangalore stay alive in the tourney with a healthier run-rate in their backpack. Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab joins in those worried teams list who are in quest of Playoffs road.