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Dubai: Kings XI Punjab cruised to their 5th victory on the trot, after bowlers restricting Bangalore to just 124/8, they chased it down with 5 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
This was eight win in row -- three in IP:L 6 and five wins in current season.
It was disheartening for RCB fans to see their side end up on 124/8 - after they had managed to score 20 in the first over. The top order was blown away by medium-pacer man of te match Sandeep Sharma - who after his brilliance against KKR on last Saturday, to finish with figures of 3/15.
The inclusion of Chris Gayle meant Ravi Rampaul had to sit out. After the first over, in which Gayle hit Maxwell for 20 [2x6, 2x4], the decision seemed correct. However, the tide changed dramatically in the next over as Sandeep Sharma removed both Gayle and Virat Kolhi in the span of three balls. While Gayle was bowled charging down the wicket - which ended his brief stay in the middle, Kohli fell victim to a dubious leg-before decision given by umpire Billy Bowden. The replays showed the ball would have gone on to miss the leg stump.
New batsman Yogesh Takawale last just seven balls after Mitchell Johnson got him out caught behind in the very next over. Takawale (0) poked at a ball outside the off stump with his feet rooted to the crease, giving a simple catch to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as RCB slumped to 26/3 in three overs. More disaster followed when Parthiv Patel, batting on 2, gave Saha a second catch. The dismissal of Patel meant RCB reduce to 26/4.
Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers to revive the innings which had been rocked by KXIP pacers. Both Yuvraj and De Villiers then scored boundaries off Sandeep in the sixth over to produce a few smiles in the RCB dugout. The pair added 41 runs in 5.3 overs as Yuvraj took a liking to the KXIP bowlers.
Just when some stability was restored, Rishi Dhawan came into the attack and he justified his introduction with the wicket of De Villiers for 17 [15b, 2x4]. Albie Morkel (15) and Yuvraj (35) managed 26 runs between them but once they fell in the 14th and 15th over, there was no coming back for RCB as they could manage only 25 runs in the last five overs.
Chasing a modest target, Cheteshwar Pujara fell early for 10, edging Ashok Dinda to Patel behind the stumps in the fifth over.
Virender Sehwag played some amazing cricketing shots to set the momentum going. He started by reaching out to a full and wide delivery from Varun Aaron and carving it between the cover and point boundary and followed it with back-to-back flicks off Dinda. Aaron gave KXIP their second breakthrough in the form of Saha, who after mistiming a hook, was pouched safely by Mitchel Starc just inches inside the boundary.
Aaron then got the big wicket of Maxwell for 6, who fell to a spectacular catch by Starc at fine leg for his second failure in the tournament. At 47/3, RCB bowlers had gained the upper-hand with quick wickets but Sehwag and David Miller had other plans. The duo made sure there were no further setbacks, putting on 45 for the fourth wicket with Miller taking charge. The South African left-hander smashed four boundaries for his 20-ball 26.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab have won the toss and have opted to field.
RCB have two changes with Chris Gayle coming in for Ravi Rampaul and Varun Aaron replacing Sachin Rana while KXIP unchanged.
Teams
Punjab: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virender Sehwag, George Bailey (Capt.), Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Akshar Patel, Rishi Dhawan, Mitchell Johnson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Sandeep Sharma
Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Chris Gayle, Yogesh Takawale, Virat Kohli (Capt.), AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Aaron
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 124/8 (Yuvraj 35, Sandeep 3-15, Dhawan 2-14, Johnson 2-19)
Kings XI Punjab - 127/5 (Sehwag 32, Chahal 2-23, Aaron 2-29)
Result - Kings XI Punjab won by 5 wickets
Points - Kings XI Punjab 2, Royal Challengers Bangalore 0
