Kings XI Punjab beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 wickets in Sharjah, to win their second game of the season. They are now on four points from eight games as the second phase of the league stage has just begun.
Both of KXIP’s win has come against Bangalore as RCB has found it ough to go past Punjab. It was yet another game where the chasing team won a match in the IPL.
Let us take a look at 5 talking points from Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore game:
1. Comeback of the Undisputed King of IPL
Chris Gayle made a much-awaited comeback to IPL as he scored 53 of 45 balls to help Punjab secure a win against RCB. He was out of the first seven games for KXIP, first due to tactical reasons and second due to a stomach upset when he was almost sure to play against SRH.
He underwent treatment at the hospital for a week and announced his comeback just before Punjab took on Banglore.
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2. Banglore’s Punjab Road Block
Kings XI Punjab have had a forgetful season so far in this IPL season. However, both of their wins have come against RCB in this campaign. It was KL Rahul who scored a ton in their first game in Dubai and in the process, outscored Banglore to win the game by 97 runs.
It was him again alongside Chris Gayle, who took Punjab over the line. While Banglore was outplayed in the first game, Punjab did give them a chance the second time but RCB couldn’t capitalise on it.
3. RCB’s Tactical Move to Send ABD At Number Six
AB De Villiers has been the in-form batsmen for Banglore in this season so far. In RCB’s last game at this same venue, he scored 73 off 33 smacking KKR bowlers to all parts of the ground. However, due to his problems against leg-spin, he was held back till number six in the batting order.
By the time he walked out to bat it was already the 16th over. With the need to score big runs in the final overs, De Villiers tried to hit one against Mohammed Shami getting caught just outside the 30-yard circle, in the 18th over. The move turned out to be a blunder, something which will be a talking point ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s next game.
4. KXIP’s Problem of Leaving It Too Late
Though Kings XI Punjab won against RCB, they did give Royal Challengers Bangalore a sniff to come back into the game. Punjab needed seven off the last two overs. When it looked like they would win by the 19th over, they took then match to the last over needing two of the final six balls, Yuzvendra Chahal bowled with a lot of heart as he kept flighting the deliveries.
With one needed off the final ball, Nicholas Pooran ensured that he was just enough to see his side home.
5. Road Ahead for Punjab & Bangalore
Punjab face an in-form Mumbai Indians in their next game on Sunday, while Royal Challengers Bangalore play against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. Both Punjab and Rajasthan are in the bottom half of the table needing successive wins to make a case for themselves to go to the playoffs.