The match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab looked pretty much one-sided as the Punjab side led by KL Rahul comprehensively beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by a whopping 97 runs at the Dubai International Stadium.
Two reasons why the match became so one-sided, at first is KL Rahul’s stellar show as he sent packing the RCB bowlers as he smashed 132 off just 69 deliveries. KL Rahul’s highest score is also the highest score by an Indian in the history of the Indian Premier League.
It all started when RCB skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first. Though Mayank Agarwal was unable to create the magic this time as he was dismissed very early in the innings by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Our bowling unit has good mix of youth and experience – Shami
Despite losing Mayank early, Punjab still went on to score 206 runs all thanks to KL Rahul’s knock of 132 runs. In the follow-up, RCB had a shocking batting collapse as they were all out for a mere 109 runs on the board. The collapse has to be credited to the bowlers of Punjab as they picked up key wickets at crucial stages of the game.
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One of Punjab’s bowlers Mohammed Shami at the end of the match said that they assess the conditions of the pitch first and then decided where and what to bowl to the batsmen. He also mentioned how he has the sole responsibility to deliver with the new ball and has been trying to pass on his experience to the youth players in the side.
“I have the responsibility to deliver with the new ball, help my bowling partners and try to hit the right areas. We also have a good batting line up and our bowling is more improved this year. It is a young unit with a good mix of experience and even skill-wise we are good,” Shami said at the end of the game.
“Depends on how the wickets are over there (in Sharjah), if there is moisture we will try to bowl full and if it is dry we bowl back of a length. That will be the plan. We can only assess after reaching there and seeing the pitch,” he added.
