Published: May 06, 2015, 11:06 PM (IST)
Edited: May 07, 2015, 07:55 AM (IST)
Royal Challengers Bangalore annihilated the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Match 40 of the eight edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Bangalore. They first put up a huge score and their pace bowlers ran through the Kings XI Punjab to win by a whopping margin of 138 runs. With that huge win, they get to the third position in the IPL Points table. IPL 2015 Points Table & Team Standings
Kings XI Punjab were off to a horrible start, losing wickets at the rate of knots. Manan Vohra was out in the first over itself, lobbing a catch to David Wiese at covers off Mitchell Starc. Harshal Patel cleaned up Murali Vijay and Glenn Maxwell again failed to last more than five balls as Sreenath Aravind castled him. Maxwell has had a horrible IPL 2015 and things do not seem to getting better for him anytime soon. Glenn Maxwell: The fine thread between glory and fury
Wriddhiman Saha tried to get going but holed out to Virat Kohli at mid-wicket off Sreenath Aravind. Aravind did not finish there and dismissed David Miller in the very same over to reduce Kings XI Punjab to 34 for five at the end of six overs. Axar Patel and George Bailey tried to resurrect the innings but Aravind struck again to dismiss the Kings XI Punjab captain. Scorecard: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab Match 40 at Bangalore
Mitchell Starc then returned to dismiss both Mitchell Johnson and Anureet Singh in the same over, Kings XI Punjab were reduced to tatters, losing eight wickets for just 48 runs on the board. They were in danger of getting bowled out for the lowest score in IPL history, which belonged also was due to Royal Challengers Bangalore who bowled out Rajasthan Royals for 58 in IPL 2009, but Axar Patel found the fence on a few occasions to get them past that dreaded score. Starc though took his fourth wicket when he bowled Karanveer Singh. As many as seven Kings XI Punjab batsmen had their furniture disturbed. Updates: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab Match 40 at Bangalore
Axar Patel was the top scorer for Kings XI Punjab and just when he and Sandeep Sharma were scoring some handy runs, Yuzvendra Chahal took a brilliant return catch to end the game. None of the KXIP batsmen spent enough time at the crease to apply themselves and Royal Challengers Bangalore made the most of it by bowling them out for a paltry score which not only helped them get the two crucial points but also boosted their net run-rate which will come very handy in the tournament. IPL 2015 Highest wicket-taker: List of best bowlers in IPL 8
Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a mammoth score of 226 for three in 20 overs, thanks to some belligerent hitting from Chris Gayle. He scored his fifth IPL ton, on his way to smashing 117 in just 57 balls, with seven fours and 12 sixes. He had given Kings XI Punjab a couple of chances but George Bailey and Manan Vohra dropped him on 27 and 53 respectively. IPL 2015 most catches by fielders: List of best fielders in IPL 8
Kohli and Gayle added 119 runs for the opening wicket before Kings XI Punjab struck dismissing Kohli. AB de Villiers came in and got going hitting an unbeaten 47 to give company to Gayle. Some cheeky shots from Sarfaraz Khan as well helped them post a huge total on board. Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for Kings XI Punjab taking two for 41 in his spell. IPL 2015 Highest run-scorer: List of best batsmen in IPL 8
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 226 for 3 (Chris Gayle 117, AB de Villiers 47*; Sandeep Sharma 2 for 41) beat Kings XI Punjab 88 (Axar Patel 40*; Mitchell Starc 4 for 15, Sreenath Aravind 4 for 27) by 138 runs.
Man of the Match: Chris Gayle
(Nikhil Popat is a cricket lover and a PotterHead. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)
