Hello and welcome to Sportstar's coverage of IPL 2020, Match 31 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab.
Kings XI Punjab beats Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets
KL Rahul and Chris Gayle hit fine half-centuries as Kings XI Punjab finally broke its losing streak as it beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets. Chasing 172 runs to win, Punjab was in control of the match till the last over. However, Yuzvendra Chahal spun a twist by removing game and tried to push the game into the Super Over with the scores tied. But, Nicholas Pooran hit a six off the last ball and sealed the deal for Punjab.
On Friday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 32 of IPL 2020.
KXIP 170/1 after 19 overs: Punjab needs 2 in 6 balls
KXIP 165/1 after 18 overs: Just four from Chris Morris over but Punjab needs just 1 in 12 balls.
KXIP 161/1 after 17 overs: There it is. Chris Gayle hits a 36-ball 50 and what a return for the Universe Boss! Take a bow. Punjab inching closer for a huge win.
KXIP 146/1 after 16 overs: Gayle and Rahul punish Mohammed Siraj by looting 20 runs from his over. Punjab needs 26 runs in 24 balls.
KXIP 126/1 after 15 overs: KL Rahul and Chris Gayle are two runs short of raising their 50-run stand. Four runs from the Saini over.
KXIP 123/1 after 14 overs: What a fine half-century from KL Rahul and this has been an excellent season for the Punjab skipper. He would love to close this chase.
KXIP 119/1 after 13 overs: Chris Gayle joins the party as he smokes Washington Sundar for two sixes. Pressure on Bangalore.
KXIP 103/1 after 12 overs: Two huge sixes and KL Rahul moves closer to anothet half-century. Most importantly eases some pressure off Gayle, who is struggling to time the ball. 15 runs off the over.
KXIP 88/1 after 11 overs: Excellent from Washington Sundar as he another tight over. Good thing for Punjab is the required rate is still under 10 rpo.
KXIP 84/1 affter 10 overs: A wicket and RCB has tightened the flow of runs as Saini gave just two runs. A little dip in momentum for Punjab.
KXIP 82/1 after 9 overs: Smart move by Kohli as he gets Washington Sundar to bowl and with Gayle at the crease, Bangalore has a chance to cut off the twos as although Rahul is quick, Gayle might be hesitant as he banks on power.
Punjab 78/1 after 8 overs: Yuzvendra Chahal strikes and what a comeback after being hammerered for a six. Poor shot selection from Mayank as went for a slog sweep, misses the ball as it lights up the bails.
Punjab 65/0 after 7 overs: This is excellent batting and both batsmen are now opening their arms and are scoring runs at will.
Punjab 56/0 after 6 overs: End of PowerPlay as Rahul and Mayank bring their third 50-run stand of this season and this has been a fine opening pair for Punjab. Bangalore needs to come up with a plan to break this stand.
Punjab 46/0 after 5 overs: Both Rahul and Mayank have found their feet and have given Punjab a solid start. A stright down the ground shot to finish the over with a boundary and Mayank is looking in great shape. Bangalore needs a wicket.
KXIP 33/0 after 4 overs: Mayank Agarwal welcomes Yuzvendra Chahal by hitting the leggie for 15 runs including a six and two back-to-back boundaries. A slow start is now turning into a strong one.
KXIP 18/0 after 3 overs: KL Rahul gets going with an excellent pull over the deep square leg for a maximum as 13 comes from Chris Morris over.
KXIP 5/0 after 2 overs: KL Rahul fetches a boundary with a flick but Navdeep Saini finishes well as he bowl four consecutive dot balls. The RCB fielders are lively with Kohli leading from the front. A string four-man ring is preventing both openers from piercing the off-side.
KXIP 1/0 after 1 over: Top stuff from Chris Morris as he gives just a single from his first over. Rahul is off the mark but Mayank is yet to get off the mark having faced three balls.
Alright we are set for the chase and it will be KL Rahul along with Mayank Agarwal, which means Chris Gayle will not get to open the batting. For Bangalore it will be Chris Morris - the man who played a gem with the bat.
End of Innings: RCB posts 171/6 after 20 overs.
What a knock from Chris Morris and he has powered RCB to a challenging total of 171. Morris hit a 8-ball 25 and smokes Mohammed Shami for 24 runs in the final over. A boundary and three sixes and Shami's good job in the previous over went waste as he finishes with 4-0-45-2. Will be back for the chase.
As we wait for KXIP to begin the run chase, listen in to the latest episode of MatchPoint Paradox IPL Special, where we discuss the biggest talking points from the tournament
RCB 147/6 after 19 overs: Chris Morris boosts the score with a much-needed six but Chris Jordan bounces back to end the over well.
RCB 137/6 after 18 overs: Double blow for Bangalore as Mohammed Shami removes Ab de Villiers and Virat Kohli in one over. This has been some exceptional bowling from Punjab and the move to hold ABD didn't work for Bangalore.
RCB 133/4 after 17 overs: What a spell from Murugal Ashwin as he finishes with 4-0-23-2 and Bangalore needs both Kohli and De Villiers to fire from both ends.
RCB 127/4 after 16 overs: Chris Jordan strikes and he removes Shivam Dube and finally Ab de Villiers walks in to join Kohli.
RCB 122/3 after 15 overs: Shivam Dube gets going as he smacks Ravi Bishnoi for two huge sixes to release the pressure as 19 runs comes off Ravi Bishnoi's over. Some momentum for Bangalore.
RCB 103/3 after 14 overs: Good start by Chris Jordan as he gives just six runs and Bangalore in need for some kind of acceleration. The bowling has been top-notch from Punjab but they need to finish well as we approach the death overs.
RCB 97/3 after 13 overs: What an over by Ravi Bishnoi as he gives just three runs and Kohli is searching for boundaries but fails to pierce the gaps.
RCB 94/3 after 12 overs: Glenn Maxwell does a decent job with the ball, if not with the bat as he finishes with 4-0-28-0.
RCB 88/3 after 11 overs: Murugan Ashwin is doing a wonderful job as he removes Washington Sundar and has been very economical. Still no ABD as Shivam Dube joins skipper Kohli.
RCB 83/2 after 10 overs: Spinners have kept a tight leash on the batsmen and Sundar manages to squeeze a boundary. Kohli is looking in good touch.
RCB 75/2 after 9 overs: Top bowling from M Ashwin as spin has tied down Kohli and Washington Sundar, whose promotion is a bit questionable, as he walked out ahead of Ab de Villiers.
RCB 69/2 after 8 overs: Glenn Maxwell has slipped in an excellent over as doesn't allow the batsmen to score a boundary.
RCB 63/2 after 7 overs: Great start by Murugan Ashwin as he castles Aaron Finch with a peach of a delivery. After a missed chance, Ashwin slips one quicker through the air, Finch goes on his backfoot and misses it as the ball castles the off pole. Top stuff.
RCB 57/1 after 6 overs: End of PowerPlay and the fifty comes up for Bangalore. Been a good one and Kohli is looking solid out there. Ravi Bishnoi starts with a 7-run over.
RCB 49/1 after 5 overs: Arshdeep Singh strikes and gets the dangerous Devdutt Padikkal. The batsman hurries into a push and spoons it straight to Nicholas Pooran at cover. Virat Kohli walks out and with his trademark cover drive gets off the mark.
RCB 38/0 after 4 overs: Devdutt Padikkal has played some excellent shots and his whip over deep square leg off Shami is the stand out shot so far. Bangalore moving at a breezy pace.
RCB 27/0 after 3 overs: Finch and Padikkal have given RCB a good start after Kohli opted to bat first. Arshdeep Singh starts well but concedes a boundary.
RCB 18/0 after 2 overs: Aaron Finch is looking in good touch as he pockets two boundaries off Mohammed Shami as the fast bowlers starts his over little expensively. 10 from it.
RCB 8/0 after 1 over: Glenn Maxwell started proceedings for Punjab and the off-spinner did well until he was smacked for a six off the last ball over deep square for a maximum by Aaron Finch.
Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch are out in the middle and it will be Glenn Maxwell with the ball! Spin straightaway... Here we go
Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore wins toss, opts to bat first.
Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kings XI Punjab: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Changes | RCB - Unchanged | KXIP - Three changes - Mandeep, Prabsimran and Mujeeb miss out. Gayle, Hooda and Ashwin come in.
After a string of losses, KL Rahul is working hard to keep his side motivated. He's got some help from the very side he's going up against today though. Watch to know more.
Current position in the table:
RCB (3rd): After five wins and two losses from seven matches, the side currently sits third in the points table with 10 points. It is behind leader MI and DC only on net run-rate.
KXIP (8th): On the other hand, is reeling at the bottom of the table with two points from seven matches. After winning its opening game, it was defeated in all the other matches.
IPL 2020 Form guide: (last 5 matches | win:loss)
RCB- The team is in fine form, having won four of its last five encounters (4:1)
KXIP - The franchise currently finds itself in a big hole as it has lost all of its last five matches. (0:5)
Head-to-head: (25 matches- RCB 12 | KXIP 13 )
The two teams have faced each other 25 times in the IPL so far, and KXIP leads the head-to-head count 13-12.
Last IPL meeting:
KXIP (206/3 in 20 overs) beat RCB (109/10 in 17 overs) by 97 runs.
The Preview
Chris Gayle is itching to walk out to the middle. He very well could on Thursday night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Maybe his return could turn things around for a desperate Kings XI Punjab, which takes on an increasingly confident Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 41-year-old universe boss is expected to take advantage of the small boundaries in what is going to be his first match of this edition of the IPL. He can of course hit over the ropes without much of an effort on any ground, but at Sharjah, even his mishits could go for six.
It would be interesting to see where he bats, though. If he has to open, the hugely successful firm of K. L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will have to be split up.
The squads
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel (wk), Aaron Finch, Josh Philippe, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande and Adam Zampa.
Kings XI Punjab: K. L. Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Chris Gayle, Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sarfaraz Khan, Sheldon Cottrell, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Mandeep Singh, James Neesham, Tajinder Singh, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, M. Ashwin, J. Suchith, K. Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen and Prabhsimran Singh.
Match Details
Game No. 31: Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Date: October 15, Thursday.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Comments
SHARE