Royal Challengers Bangalore inflicted the double over a sorry Kings XI Punjab in match number 48 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 in Indore. KXIP have been over-dependant on KL Rahul and Chris Gayle throughout the tournament and the duo stared briskly before getting out and from there on their batting failed miserably. RCB notched their second successive victory in IPL 2018 and are still alive in the tourney.
In pursuit of a paltry 89 runs, RCB won the match comfortably as KXIP’s woes continued. Virat Kohli (48*) and Parthiv Patel (42*) helped the side to get past the line with a 10-wicket victory. Earlier, Aaron Finch (26) top scored for the hosts as they never quite managed to have a go with some poor batting display all around. That in turn transpired into their bowling too.
RCB notched their fifth victory of the season and have 10 points from 12 matches. KXIP stay on 12 after the same number of games as they suffered a third successive loss.
Here is the match in numbers.
- This was RCB’s 10th victory in the 22nd meeting against KXIP in IPL history.
- This season RCB completed the double over KXIP and both times they cased down the target.
- In Indore the sides have played twice and RCB equalised it to 1-1.
- Umesh Yadav 3/23 kept his bowling form blossom to get to 17 wickets in IPL 2018.
- Alongside Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh has featured in all 12 of RCB’s matches this season.
- This was Umesh’s 26th wicket in his 16th match against KXIP.
- This was the ninth match in Indore in IPL history and teams batting second have won eight times.
- RCB picked three wickets in power-plays on Monday and have 23 in their kitty this season.
- Virat Kohli became the sixth player to go past 500+ runs in IPL 2018.
- He is now the fifth highest run-getter (514) this season.
- This is the 3rd time RCB have won an IPL game by 10 wickets margin.
- No other team won by 10 wickets more than once in the IPL so far.
Kohli, Parthiv on song
With just 89 to get in 20 overs, RCB opening duo Parthiv and Kohli looked in a hurry to finish off the proceedings and they came out on top. With no pressure in their heads, the idea was to win the match as quickly as possible and the experienced duo managed to do the same. They played some wide range of shots and scored freely.
Kohli welcomed Ankit Rajpoot in the third over with a first-ball six over mid-off. That’s the manner in which he played. He took the responsibility all trough the match and opened the innings. His application against Purple Cap holder Andrew Tye was a moment to cherish. The final-ball six over mid-off was a delight when Kohli stepped up and made room to smack a half-volley.
Parthiv too played his part and made sure he got to the attacking zone. The duo added 66 runs in the power-play overs to exhibit a strong display.
Poor all-round display by KXIP
The hosts were poor across all three departments in the field. The hefty middle-order fell like a pack of cards and nobody took the responsibility of making themselves useful and batting till the end. The running between the wickets was equally poor with three run-outs in the innings. KXIP lacked the basic ruled applied in cricket and that led to their dismal performance.
They collapsed from 36/0 to 88 all-out as 10 wickets fell for 52 runs.
While bowling too, Kohli flattened them. Short balls were packed off and the half-volleys were dispatched. The body language of KXIP unit looked down all along the match. The fielding too was not positive and catches were dropped. R Ashwin needs his side to come out blazing in the remaining two matches and the current form is a worrying trend.
Umesh hasn’t looked better before
If one bowler has lived up to the billing at RCB it has been Umesh Yadav. Since the beginning he has been on fire and Monday was no different. His spell of 3/23 was another solid display. What has gone well for him is the accuracy he has derived from the surface. His pin point deliveries hasn’t allowed the batsmen to breathe easy and no wonder he has the most dot balls.
He picked up the two key wickets in the beginning in the form of Gayle and Rahul and that opened the gates for RCB to run through the others. The experienced bowler had been rewarded with a call-up to the Indian team and now it seems there is no stopping him. Kohli needs to be lauded to give all the freedom to the right-arm fast bowler to go and express himself.