Twitter Reactions: AB de Villiers and precise death bowling help RCB pip KXIP by 17 runs
De Villiers and Stoinis had played superbly and their innings didn't go in vain.
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The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have registered a hat-trick of victories and have gained the momentum suddenly now. They defended 202 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium and this time, their death bowling was at its best. Umesh Yadav, who had almost conceded 26 runs in the final over against CSK, bowled superbly in the 18th and 20th overs as they pipped the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 17 runs.
Chasing 203 runs to win, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul got the visitors to a brilliant start. In no time, they crossed the 50-run mark and one felt that the lacklustre RCB bowling was at it again. However, Umesh Yadav struck first blood by removing the dangerous Gayle. Mayank Agarwal started well and slammed 35 runs before getting out to Marcus Stoinis. Soon KL Rahul was dismissed by Moeen Ali and RCB were in the game.
Nicholas Pooran though had other ideas. He came out and started smashing the spinners Moeen and Washington Sundar out of the park. Kohli brought back his pacers in time and Pooran lost all the touch soon. It became very tough for him and David Miller to hit boundaries in the last four overs. At one stage, they needed 47 off 24 deliveries and the equation reduced to 27 off 6 when Pooran got out.
They couldn’t get there eventually and ended up at 185 runs for the loss of seven wickets after 20 overs. RCB have finally climbed up from the last position and will hope to do the unthinkable now.
ABD special at the Chinnaswamy
Earlier, RCB lost their skipper Virat Kohli very early in the innings. But Parthiv Patel continued playing those sort cameos to propel the team’s score to 70 in the powerplay overs. He got out after scoring 43 runs off just 24 deliveries and what followed was proper headless cricket. Akshdeep Nath and Moeen Ali threw their wickets away and RCB had botched a great start.
AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis had to rebuild then during which the run-rate came down significantly. Both of them got their eyes in and then set themselves for a fantastic finish. De Villiers started to open up his arms in the 15th over. He targetted the weak link in Ankit Rajpoot and from thereon, the run-fest began for RCB. The South African also played a single-handed shot which went out of the ground.
The carnage had just started and Stoinis joined in the last couple of overs as the ball travelled a long way during this period. RCB added a massive 48 runs in the last two overs as they crossed the 200-run mark out of nowhere to post 202 runs for the loss of four wickets after 20 overs. Eventually, it was enough for them thanks to RCB’s brilliant death bowling on the day as they climbed to the seventh position in the points table.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Love @imVkohli reaction catching @ashwinravi99 Great entertainment @RCBTweets and @IPL !! 👏🏻 Mother cricket always gets you!! #mankad
— Paul Collingwood (@Colly622) April 24, 2019
Virat Kohli has now dropped four catches this season – the second most after Jofra Archer's five. Kohli's catch percentage of 42% is the second worst in the IPL after Archer's 29%. #IPL #RCBvKXIP @RCBTweets @lionsdenkxip
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 24, 2019
So Umesh Yadav redeeming himself tonight but must say Navdeep Saini was superb. And @ABdeVilliers17 what fielding from him. How can he not play the World Cup! 3 for @RCBTweets on the trot.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 24, 2019
So RCB live to fight another day! #RCBvKXIP #IPL2019#IPL
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 24, 2019
The tortoise is on the move … #RCBvKXIP
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 24, 2019
💔💔#SaddaPunjab #RCBvKXIP #VIVOIPL #KXIP
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 24, 2019
Punjab choked. Should have won this one but the last 3 overs of their batting, just like their bowling was KXIP’s nemesis #RCBvKXIP
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 24, 2019
Stop the press. #RCB are no longer last in the #IPL2019 points table! #RCBvKXIP
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) April 24, 2019
Why did AB have to retire from International cricket?!! We all would of loved to have seen him in the WC next month. #CWC19 #IPL2019 #RCBvsKXIP
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) April 24, 2019
Mr. 360 @ABdeVilliers17 sending the ball on the rooftop!! Punjab could not finish it off well at all, Parthiv at the top looking really impressive.#RCBvKXIP
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 24, 2019
A B Delivers. Once again. #RCBvKXIP #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 24, 2019
AB De Villiers…. now you sir, are a JOKE! 😳😳👏🏼👏🏼
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) April 24, 2019
Scoreline does not reflect how close this match acutally was. Punjab’s sparkling bid to chase down 202 fizzled out only in the last over. RCB reap reward of spectacular batting by ABD, but bowling and fielding could be better
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 24, 2019
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