Sharjah: The ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle (53, 45b, 1×4, 5×6) sent warning to the opposition teams with his trademark innings as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) secured an eight wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL encounter here, Thursday.
KXIP almost made a mess of what could have been an easy task. In spite of having nine wickets in hand and needing only two off the final over, bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal (1/35), it all came down to one off the final ball after Gayle was un out off the penultimate delivery while searching for a quick single. However, Nicolas Pooran completed the task with a six, which just cleared the long-on boundary.
Chasing 172, KXIP stated with a bang as skipper KL Rahul (61 n o, 49b, 1×4, 5×6) and Mayank Agarwal (45, 25b, 4×4, 3×6) added 78 runs inside 7.5 overs before the latter’s departure in the final ball of the eighth over. Chahal broke the stand castling Mayank.
Then it was all Gayle and Rahul. Gayle started his innings cautiously before unlashing his power, what the KXIP fans were waiting for. Both Rahul and Gayle were at their best playing shots all around the ground. The duo added 93 runs for the second wicket.
Earlier, KXIP put up a disciplined effort with the bowl to restrict RCB to 171/6 in their must-win IPL match. Skipper Virat Kohli top-scored with 48 off 39 balls in his 200th game for RCB but it was Chris Morris’ 25 off 8 balls in the death overs that took the team to a competitive score.
The final over bowled by Mohammad Shami (2/45) went for 24 runs. Notwithstanding Shami’s wayward 20th over, it was a much improved bowling effort from a team who have been leaking runs in the death overs game after game. KXIP conceded only 25 runs from over 16-19 before Morris and Isuru Udana hammered Shami for three sixes.
After Kohli chose to bat, KXIP experimented by opening the bowling with Glenn Maxwell (0/28). Both the openers – Devdutt Padikkal (18) and Aaron Finch (20) – could not build on their starts.
Padikkal was foxed by a slower one from left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, while Finch missed a fast leg-break from Murugan Ashwin (2/23), leaving RCB at 62/2 in the seventh over.
With Kohli looking good at the other end, AB de Villiers was expected to come in at his usual number four spot but with two leg-spinners in operation, left-handed batsman Washington Sundar was sent ahead of the South African.
The move did not work as he struggled to 13 off 14 balls. KXIP, whose bowling has been the weakest link, did rather well from 11-14 overs conceding just 20 runs to put pressure on the opposition.
RCB needed to move on and southpaw Shivam Dube provided the timely strike, dispatching Ravi Bishnoi to consecutive sixes to amass 19 runs from the over.
Following Dube’s dismissal in the 15th over, De Villiers finally joined Kohli for the late assault, which was eventually provided by Morris.
Brief scores: RCB 171/6 (Virat Kohli 48, Chris Morris 25 n o; Murugan Ashwin 2/23, Mohammed Shami 2/45) lost to KXIP 177/2 (KL Rahul 61 n o, Chris Gayle 53, Mayank Agarwal 45) by eight wickets.