IPL 10, Match 8, KXIP v RCB Review: Axar Patel heroics win it for KXIP

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) won their 2nd match on a trot in Vivo IPL 10 after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 wickets and with 34 balls to spare in the 8th match of the tournament. It was yet another Maxwell storm as the home team made light work of the total set by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Earlier in the day, it was a mind-boggling 46 balls 89 from comeback man AB de Villiers which propelled the visitors to a score of 148 in their allotted 20 overs. He batted superbly and never looked like playing his opening game of the tournament. Varun Aaron also made a good comeback finishing with figures of 2/21 in his allotted 4 overs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Shane Watson won the toss and elected to bat. On a pitch where dew plays a big factor towards the end of the innings it was really a big call from Watson. Punjab got off to a brilliant start with left-arm spinner Axar Patel striking the timbers of Shane Watson in the very first over.

Comeback man AB de Villiers walked out in the middle to join Vishnu Vinod. Vinod played some exceptional shots the other couldn’t continue his good work and was dismissed in the 4th over of Sandeep Sharma. It was an attempted a pull off a good length delivery but he edged in straight to the throat of long on.

Pocket sized dynamo Kedar Jadhav who smashed an unbeaten 69 of 37 deliveries the other day was dismissed pretty cheaply in the final delivery of 6th over. Mandeep Singh came out in the middle and struck a four and a six of T. Natarajan in the 9th over as Bangalore struggled their way to 47/3 at the end of the first 9 overs.

The only plus point for RCB was de Villiers was still out at the crease and despite returning after an injury layoff, he didn’t look rusty at all and played some extraordinary shots especially towards the later part of the innings. Mr. 360 went on the rampage in the final five overs as the right-hander smashed 58 runs in the final phase. He began with a six of Varun Aaron in the 16th over followed by a couple more in the very next over of Marcus Stoinis.

He looked in ominous touch and never looked in any discomfort what so ever smashing boundaries after boundaries. He smashed as many as 6 sixes in the last 3 overs and remained unbeaten on 89 of a mere 46 deliveries, an innings which included 3 fours and 9 hits over the fence. It was certainly an exceptional innings by de Villiers but the score of 148 wasn’t going to be enough unless RCB produced something magical in the bowling department.

Openers Manan Vohra and Hashim Amla began in an impressive fashion smashing boundaries at will in the opening four overs. Vohra smashed Shane Watson for a hat-trick of boundaries in the 4th over as Punjab raced to a score of 42/0. They were literally toying with the Bangalore bowling line-up and was in no mood to press off the accelerator. Vohra was eventually dismissed by Tymal Mills in the final delivery of the 6th over.

The ploy to go with Axar Patel at the No. 3 position didn’t quite work as the southpaw fell after smashing a six. He was bamboozled by Yuzvendra Chahal with a well disguised googly. Just after the dismissal of Patel, Amla stepped down the track and smashed Chahal for a straight six over the bowler’s head. Punjab was going great guns and looked to chase down the required total with utmost ease.

Captain Glenn Maxwell walked out in the middle and started off from where he left in the previous encounter. He began with a four and six of Tymal Mills in the 10th over and from there on it was just formalities left for Punjab. The right-hander then smashed his countryman Billy Stanlake for a couple of sixes in the 14th over. One was over the extra cover region while the other one was struck over the mid on region. Amla on the other hand also looked in good touch and unlike his batting style, the calm and composed Amla smashed 4 fours and 3 sixes during his unbeaten innings of 58 of 38 deliveries.

Eventually, Punjab chased down the target within the 15th over as the captain remained unbeaten on 43 of 22 deliveries, an innings constructed with 3 fours and 4 sixes. The great start to their IPL 10 campaign will definitely keep the underachievers of the tournament in good stead progressing into the tournament.

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 148/4 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 89*, Mandeep Singh 28, Varun Aaron 2/21)

Kings XI Punjab 150/2 in 14.3 overs (Hashim Amla 58*, Glenn Maxwell 43*, Tymal Mills 1/22)

Kings XI Punjab won by 8 wickets (with 34 balls to spare)