Royal Challengers Bangalore 166 for 5 (Gayle 87, Awana 4-34) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 for 6 (Hussey 41) by five wickets
Kings XI Punjab shomed some fight for a while against Royal
Challengers Bangalore but they failed to make the victory against the strong
batting line up of Bangalore. Although Azhar Mahmood turned the middling total
into a seemingly challenging one and Parvinder Awana provided early strikes but
the Royal Challengers had Gayle and AB de Villiers to chase the total.
Royal Challengers were struggling especially when the total
was 25 for 3 and the required rate was touching nine-and-a- half. Bangalore
lack of depth in bowling failed to provide an opportunity for their home crowd
to celebrate in shape of AB de Villiers or Chris Gayle wicket.
This is the third consecutive mega tournament for Chris
Gayle in last 5 months in which his bat is not only scoring runs but also thrashing
the opposite team bowlers with his batting power. Kings XI Punjab captain,
David Hussey lack of leadership skills also let down the team especially in a
time when he needed to bring their wicket taking bowlers after early strikes.
It was tough for the bowlers to control the two crazy
batsmen well known for their big hittings. From one side Gayle was sending the
ball out of the park with his power while on other side De Villiers with his
presence of mind showing bowlers the way of boundary.
Kings XI succeeded to take the game into the last over of
the match after AB de Villiers and Gayle depart. But at the end, Royal
Challangers were strong enough to chase the target of 165 runs. Earlier, Azhar
Mahmood who made his debut in IPL – 5 not as a Pakistani but as a British
citizen smashed some fours and sixes to set a huge target.
Azhar Mahmood unbeaten 33* runs from 14 balls helped the
Kings XI to post their highest total of the season. Mahmood succeeded to
delight his fans not only in India but also across the border.
David Hussey came with 41 runs from 34 balls and was the top
scorer for Kings XI in game that Kings XI lost by 4 wickets.
PRESENTATION:
Vettori (RCB
captain) : Good win, very good chase by AB and Chris, they were quite confident
in their chase. Power of Chris to turn the game around in a couple of overs.
Helps to win two in a row and gets the confidence up, hope to peak at the right
time, want to get 8 or 9 wins to get to the playoffs.
Hussey (Kings XI
Captain Punjab): We were 10 runs light, the bowlers did a good job I thought,
lot of positives to come, Mahmood came back well, Awana bowled well, Chawla did
a good job too.
Gayle (man of the
match): Ball came on to the bat, wanted to keep my cool, AB came on and played
wonderfully, good win and looking to Rajasthan next. Yes, there should be some
protection for the umpires and the fans in the stadium, you don't want a loose
ball hitting you. Thank god no-one got hit today.
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