In search of their first victory in the Indian Premier League 2019, Royal Challengers Bangalore 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. What turned out as the moment which lost KXIP this game?
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Superman-Batman duo
When two of the world’s best batsmen bat together, the world watches. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were batting together against Kings XI Punjab, where they shared 85 runs for the second wicket. Both were showing no intent to get out while scoring runs at a good pace. While Kohli notched up his second fifty of the season, De Villiers raced to his third half-century of IPL 2019. It was the tenth instance where both of these players scored fifty plus runs in the same innings.
Snail-paced in middle-overs
Kings XI Punjab got off to a flier. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul looted 60 runs in the powerplay without throwing their wicket. Gayle was the wrecker in chief with 48 runs off just 23 balls. But he lacked to maintain the same pace during the middle-overs (7-15). He scored just 18 runs off 23 balls in this phase, which doesn’t match Gayle’s regular standard. This passage of play proved vital in this game.
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One man show
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. But this shows over-reliance on him as no other batsmen crossed 20-run mark, highest being Mandeep Singh and KL Rahul’s 18 runs.
