Skipper Shane Watson blamed himself for Royal Challenger Bangalore’s humiliating defeat against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Monday.
“I didn’t start well with the bat and I’m certainly to blame, getting out in the first over,” Watson said after Punjab overhauled the 149-run target in just 14.3 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Opening the innings, Watson was dismissed in the first over by Axar Patel. In fact, RCB was 22 for 3 in five overs but a superb 46-ball 89-run unbeaten innings by AB de Villiers took Bangalore to 148-4.
“A few more than 170-180 would have been nice,” Watson said. KXIP batsmen then took RCB bowlers to the cleaners with Hashim Amla (58) and Glenn Maxwell (43) sharing a 72-run innings in 38 balls to take them home.
“We didn’t even execute nicely with the ball. There was a little bit more dew than I thought there would be and it was skidding along more in the second innings,” Watson said.
Punjab skipper Maxwell credited the bowlers for setting up the win for them. “Feeling good. It’s been a great start for us. The bowlers set it up for us. To keep it to 23 in the powerplay was a great effort,” he said.
“Our bowlers seemed to get something out of this wicket when there was something there. The boys have been adaptable, I can’t ask for more than that.”
This was Punjab’s second win in the season. It had beaten Rising Pune Supergiant by six wickets in its first match.
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