During the 48th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Indore, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets in a one-sided encounter.
After Virat Kohli won the toss and put the home team in to bat, Kings XI Punjab were on bundled out on 88 in 15.1 overs. Lack of any partnership whatsoever once they lost their first wicket became Punjab’s biggest reason behind this embarrassing victory.
In the second innings, Kohli and Parthiv Patel took on the opposition to complete the match within nine overs as RCB scored 92-0 in 8.1 overs. Apart from earning two points post this win, what this has done the best for the Royal Challengers is about improving their net run rate drastically.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Umesh Yadav (RCB) – Taking the new ball for his team, Umesh Yadav proved his captain’s decision to persist with him in the powerplay right after he dismissed both the openers in his third over. Punjab never really recovered from the double-blow and kept on further going into the hole.
Virat Kohli (RCB) – Apart from his proactive captaincy his aggressive fielding, what Virat Kohli did best was promote himself to the top of the order in a bid to seal the chase quickly and perhaps without losing a wicket. Looking dominating with the bat, he scored 48* (28) with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Parthiv Patel (RCB) – Opening the batting with Kohli, Parthiv Patel complimented his captain in the best way possible. In terms of the strike rate, he (181.81) even bettered Kohli (171.42). In a 10-wicket win, Patel ended up scoring 40* (22) with the help of seven fours.
Flops
Chris Gayle (KXIP) – Opening the batting with Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle was expected to take more responsibility especially after his partner was dismissed. Him getting out in the same over put his team in a hole from where they couldn’t get out of. He scored 18 (14) with the help of four fours.
Karun Nair (KXIP) – Continuing on his below par form in this season, Karun Nair once against let his team down after he scored 1 (3). He was promoted up the order to bat at No. 3 but it didn’t yearn any fruits for Kings XI Punjab.
Marcus Stoinis (KXIP) – Promoted up the order to bat at No. 5, Marcus Stoinis walked back to the pavilion after playing a nothing shot against Yuzvendra Chahal. Scoring 2 (3) in a situation when his team needed him the most did no good to Punjab.
