Royal Challengers Bangalore once again failed to cross Kings XI Punjab hurdle at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul ran a carnage as Virat Kohli & Co went down by wickets in a chase of 172 runs.
Chasing a moderate total, Kings XI Punjab were right on course from the very start. They came out with a purpose and delivered the goods. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul added 78 runs for the first in eight runs before Chris Gayle ran a carnage in his debut IPL 2020 game.
RCB once again drop points against Kings XI Punjab
Rahul played the anchor role while Gayle tore apart RCB bowlers as Virat Kohli looked completely out of ideas. The Universe Boss smacked five sixes in his half-century knock to chase down the target. Although Royal Challengers Bangalore took the game deep but at the end, Kings XI Punjab registered a much-needed win. KL Rahul played another captain’s knock as he dominated the Orange Cap list.
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Earlier in the day, in a must-win game, the Kings XI Punjab bowlers did a superb job until the final over. They were also aided by some questionable tactics by Royal Challengers Bangalore of holding AB de Villiers till the very late. Devdutt Padikkal went inside the powerplay and Aaron Finch didn’t last long.
Wanted right hand-left hand combinations – Virat Kohli
The stage was set for a Virat Kohli-AB De Villiers partnership but that didn’t happen. Instead out walked Washington Sundar then Shivam Dube and by the time the former Proteas batsman arrived, he had to go after each delivery. And the famed RCB duo was sent back in the same over by Mohammed Shami leaving them in a spot of bother.
However, Chris Morris made sure that they gain some respectability to the total with his power-striking but it was not enough to secure them a win. RCB made a couple of mistakes including sending AB de Villiers back and Virat Kohli revealed reasons behind the decision.
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“It was quite surprising, because it went down to the wire. A bit of pressure can confuse you, it was a good performance by Kings XI in the end. We had a chat, it (AB batting at no, 6) was a message about the left-hand, right-hand combination. Sometimes these decisions you take, don’t come off,” Virat Kohli said.
Adding further, Virat Kohli believed that the game should have ended by 18th over. He also revealed that there was no conversation between him and Yuzvendra Chahal in the last over of the game before Nicholas Pooran six off the last game guided KXIP home.
“There was no conversation between Yuzi (Chahal) and me to be honest. Things became interesting to be honest. They kind of let us come back in the game because I think it should have ended by the 18th over,” Kohli signed off.
