It was a tricky track at Mohali and certainly not the best to bat on. In the end, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) fell short by a run. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Shane Watson proved his true worth as a genuine all-rounder and it was his penultimate over that decided the fate of the match.
24 runs to get from two overs, with six wickets in hand, in T20 cricket, you would expect the batting team to pull it off most of the time but the experience of Watson made the difference. Only seven runs came from that over, leaving KXIP with 17 to get from the final over. Chris Jordan gave away 15 from the final over, so in hindsight, Watson’s over sealed it for them. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal and Watson, it was another off day for RCB bowlers. MORE: IPL 2016, Match 39, Pick of the tweets: King XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Mohali
Earlier, KXIP skipper Murali Vijay won the toss and invited RCB to bat first. K L Rahul’s belligerence at top has been keeping Chris Gayle out of the side. He only enhanced his reputation by scoring a brisk 42 at the top. Virat Kohli was happy playing the second fiddle till the eighth over turned the tides in KXIP’s favour. Mystery spinner K C Cariappa dismissed Rahul and Kohli in a span of three balls, and Shane Watson fell to Axar Patel in the next over. ALSO READ: Why Virat Kohli dropped Chris Gayle, Sarfaraz Khan from RCB’s first XI
The RCB batting, which has depended majorly on Kohli’s brilliance, were reduced to 67 for three in the ninth over. If one man could have harboured them to safety, it was AB de Villiers. The master struck 35-ball 64 to help RCB get to 175. He and Sachin Baby added 88 for the fourth wicket. SEE MORE: IPL 2016: Points table, orange cap and purple cap
From thereon it was a Vijay show. The KXIP skipper almost got them over the line, smashing 89 from just 57 balls. While de Villiers’ knock was about improvisation and novelty, Vijay’s was all about elegance.
Turning Point: KXIP needed 37 from 19 balls when Watson banged one short outside off-stump. Vijay miscued the pull and holed out to Chahal at deep square-leg. RCB sniffed an unlikely win from thereon. Watson then bowled the 19th over and gave away just seven. With 17 needed from the final, it was too much of an ask, even from a well set Marcus Stoinis and Farhaan Behardien.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 175 for 5 in 20 overs [KL Rahul 42 (25), AB de Villiers 64 (35), Sachin Baby 33 (29); KC Cariappa 3-0-16-2, Sandeep Sharma 4-0-49-2, Axar Patel 4-0-27-1] bt Kings XI Punjab 174 for 4 in 20 overs [Murali Vijay 89 (57), Marcus Stoinis 34 (22)*; Shane Watson 4-0-22-2, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-30-1] by one run.
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