In search of their first victory in the Indian Premier League 2019, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reached Mohali, where they were scheduled to play against Kings XI Punjab. Bangalore won the toss and asked Punjab to bat first. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul started the innings sensibly and scored 60 runs without losing any wicket in the first six overs. Rahul departed soon after and Mayank Agarwal followed him too. Yuzvendra Chahal was the man with both wickets. But Gayle remained unscathed and was hitting boundaries at will. He scored another half-century in IPL 2019 and remained not out for 99 runs, which he scored in 64 balls including ten fours and five sixes. KXIP finished with 173/4 in 20 overs.

A determined RCB came with all guns blazing. Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel gave their team a firing start but the later fell too soon. Kohli, then, formed a partnership with AB de Villiers and it lasted for 85. In the process, Kohli notched up his second IPL 2019 fifty and got out for 67 runs in 53 balls. De Villiers remained on the crease till the end with 59 runs to his name, which came in 38 balls including five fours and two sixes. At last, RCB crossed the hurdle by seven wickets with four balls to spare.

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Chris Gayle (KXIP)

Kings XI Punjab is enjoying Chris Gayle’s good form with the bat. After receiving an early reprieve, Gayle played with confidence and tore RCB’s bowling lineup apart. Though Gayle was slow from his usual standard, he glued Punjab’s batting order together and played an anchor’s role with perfection. He missed his century by just one run and remained unbeaten on 99 off 64 balls, where he hit ten fours and five sixes.

Virat Kohli (RCB)

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Virat Kohli looked in good touch when his team started their quest to chase 174 runs in 20 overs. He was hitting the ball very nicely and took his team to a dominative position. He notched up his second IPL 2019 fifty and got out after scoring 67 runs in 53 balls, where he hit eight fours.

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AB de Villiers (RCB)

Mr. 360 was in the mood to take his team to their first win in the Indian Premier League 2019. De Villiers came to bat after Parthiv Patel’s wicket and formed a deadly duo with Kohli. He didn’t allow the pressure to creep and scored a boundary on every given opportunity. He scored a fluent fifty and remained unbeaten to take RCB home. His 59 runs came in just 38 balls which included five fours and two sixes.