Quickly
Socially
Trending
Crypto
RCB beat KXIP by 10 wickets | Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Highlights And Cricket Score 48th T20 Match
Indian Premier League, 2018
Date: May 14, 2018 Start Time: 20:00 IST | 14:30 GMT | 20:00 LocalVenue: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter. RCB got some breathing space after their five-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils while Kings XI Punjab, after a brilliant run at the initial stages, are currently struggling with back to back defeats.
Despite losses to Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, KXIP are in the top half of the league with 12 points while RCB are still languishing at the second last place in the table.
However in IPL, strange things have happened at the business end of the tournament and RCB, under Virat Kohli, are likely to put a lot of pressure on the slipping KXIP. While Kohli and AB de Villiers anchored an easy chase against Daredevils with stylish half-centuries, KXIP bowlers were under the pump, being taken to cleaners by Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik as KKR scored a mammoth 245 in the last game.
Both the teams are overtly dependant on their batting with Kohli and De Villiers holding forte for the RCB while Preity Zinta co-owned outfit looks up to KL Rahul (537 runs) and Chris Gayle (332 runs) for inspirational performances.
Such has been the gulf in performance between skipper Kohli and other batsmen in the team, despite blowing 'hot and cold' throughout the season, he is team's top scorer by a distance with 466 runs from 11 games. De Villiers (358 runs) is 108 runs behind his skipper, although he has played two games less. Mandeep Singh (245 from 11 games) is third in the list and is another 200 runs (221 runs) behind Kohli.
For KXIP, Rahul has been in a different league with five half-centuries and a strike-rate of 162 plus and an average of nearly 60. Rahul will be desperate to get some support from Gayle, who has gone quiet after initial carnage. A quickfire 50 from Gayle can change the complexion of the game.
However, it is the bowling which has let both RCB and KXIP down on many occasions.
For KXIP, the standout bowler has been Andrew Tye with 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8 per over while teenage mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman has been exceptional with 14 wickets at a miserly rate of 6.99 per over.
The problem area has been skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's inability to get breakthroughs with only six scalps from 11 games at 8.13 runs per over.
Axar Patel, the only player retained by the franchise, has fared even worse. He has got chance in only five of the matches with only three wickets in his kitty at an economy rate of 8.73.
Tye's back-up pacers Barinder Sran (4 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.40) and Mohit Sharma (6 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.88) have been disappointing and this is where the runs have been leaked.
In case of RCB, Kohli's propensity to tinker with bowling combinations after almost every game has had an impact on the performance. Only India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 7.57) and Umesh Yadav (14 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 8.23) have played all the games.
The next specialist bowler who got to play more than five games is Mohammed Siraj (8 wickets from 8 games at an economy rate of 9.13).
Save Chahal, the spinners have been a big flop. Washington Sundar's inexperience (economy rate of 9.60 with 4 wickets from 7 games) and Pawan Negi's profligacy (economy rate of 12.25 in 2 games) have hurt Kohli and Co's chances.
Chris Woakes got 8 wickets from five games but an economy rate of 10.36 meant that the skipper had to use Tim Southee (5 wickets from 5 games at an economy rate of 8.42).
Google Trends
Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Highlights And Cricket Score 48th Match - T20 Summary
Right, we're done with this! Bangalore get important two points with their 3rd 10-wicket win in the League, and the NRR will surely come into play later on, which is also a big boost. They'll surely be happy and take the momentum from this. Punjab slip to 5th place and have lost yet another game at home. That makes it 5 losses out of their last 6. They need to get their act together, and fast. Anyway, the action continues as on 15th May, Kolkata host Rajasthan at Eden Gardens at 2000 local (1430 GMT). Another crucial encounter in the context of the season. Do join in for that. See you then, folks!
Umesh Yadav is declared as the Man of the Match. He scalped 3 wickets in his 4-over spell, which included the likes of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul.
A poor performance from Punjab. Plain and simple. The batsmen heavily let them down. If your highest scorer has just 26, then that should say everything right there. In an attempt to score 200, you often end up less than 100, and that's what happened here. No sensibility was shown from the Punjab batsmen and it proved to be their undoing. The bowlers were left with no chance. Their performance tonight becomes irrelevant. A lot to ponder for Ravichandran Ashwin and his side.
An emphatic and a much-needed victory for Bangalore. They had to win, a clinical performance was needed and it came, in all departments. Skipper Kohli would be quite pleased at this. First, they did the job with the ball, where Umesh Yadav was the spearhead picking up 3 wickets. And then, with a paltry target of 89 to chase, the two openers, Kohli and Parthiv, finished things off with absolute ease. Well inside 9 overs. This will do a world of good to their confidence and significantly better their NRR.
Ankit Rajpoot to Virat Kohli. FOUR! It's a boundary, but no half century for Virat Kohli. Falls just short of it. Short ball, he swings hard and gets a big top edge over the keeper's head, to the fence behind. BANGALORE WIN BY 10 WICKETS!
Ankit Rajpoot to Virat Kohli. No ball! The match could have been over, but Kohli doesn't take the extra run. Wants to try and get to his fifty. He hits the high full toss down to long off where Andrew Tye drops the catch. Free Hit coming up...
Andrew Tye to Virat Kohli. Single to end the over. Kohli pushes it to long on and retains strike. 2 runs to win, but he's on 44. A biggie and he gets to fifty. Will he do it?
Andrew Tye to Parthiv Patel. Shortish in length, pulled behind square leg for one.
Andrew Tye to Parthiv Patel. FOUR! Beautiful. Back of a length outside off, Parthiv plays the ramp shot over the vacant slip cordon. Plays it quite fine, it runs away to the fence.
Andrew Tye to Parthiv Patel. Cleverly takes the pace off this one, Parthiv doesn't pick it up and swings across the line way too early. Misses it altogether.
Andrew Tye to Virat Kohli. Shortish in length, well outside off, slapped to long off by walking out of the crease. Comfortable run earned.
Andrew Tye to Parthiv Patel. Easily run down to third man. It's on a length, PP opens the face and takes a single in that area.
Marcus Stoinis to Virat Kohli. FOUR! Shot! Hit with authority. Back of a length, Kohli plays a front foot pull shot. Muscles it over mid-wicket, leaving the man in the deep with no chance. Superb. Bangalore are just 10 runs away from a handsome win.
Marcus Stoinis to Parthiv Patel. Skidding off the deck, touch fuller on middle and leg, catches Patel on the pads as he misses his flick. It pitched outside leg, so the umpire isn't interested. A leg bye taken as the ball rolls over on the off side.
Marcus Stoinis to Parthiv Patel. Good effort from Agarwal out in the deep. Was always a difficult chance. Parthiv swivels and lifts this over mid-wicket. Mayank out in the deep, runs in and dives forward to get his hands to it. Just gets his fingertips on it, but it slips through. A couple added to the scoreboard.
Marcus Stoinis to Virat Kohli. Quite full on off, pushed to long on for a run.
Marcus Stoinis to Virat Kohli. FOUR! Pure timing, that. Didn't have to use any kind of force at all. Short and wide outside off, Kohli steers this past point with an angled bat. Nobody out there in the deep, so it'll be a boundary.
Marcus Stoinis to Parthiv Patel. Short of a good length on middle and off, swung down the ground to long on for a single.