IPL 10, Match 43, RCB vs KXIP: 5 Game Changing Moments

Royal Challengers hoped to play the role of party poopers for Kings XI Punjab as they hosted the 43rd match of the IPL today. RCB is out of the race for the playoffs as they languish at the bottom of the table. With Delhi Daredevil finally finding their feet at the right moment as well, the distance between RCB and the other teams is prominent.

A buoyed Punjab side further wanted to boost their chances of making it to the playoffs with another win against RCB at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Yet again the bowlers dominated the proceedings after Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first.

Kings XI lost a flurry wickets but managed to reach a total of 138. Royal Challengers batsmen, yet again failed to put up a fight and succumbed under pressure batting second. In the end, it was a comfortable victory for Punjab as they defeated the home team by 19 runs, and keep their hopes alive to progress into the playoffs.

Let us look at those 5 moments that shaped the game as it happened.

1. RCB bowlers draw first blood

The opening bowlers for RCB, Aniket Choudhary, and Sreenath Aravind struck first up to dismiss Hashim Amla and Martin Guptill. In an interesting turn of events, Hashim Amla walked back to the KXIP dugout after nicking the ball, even though none of the fielders or the bowlers appealed for it. The instance goes to show why the game is still called the gentleman’s game. Guptill soon joined Amla in the dugout after chipping a catch deep at cover.

2. KXIP batsmen get entangled in RCB’s spin web 

Even though Shaun Marsh and Manan Vohra tried to bring in some stability in the KXIP innings, RCB bowlers kept on chipping in with wickets to keep a check on the run-rate. The spin combo of Pawan Negi and Chahal clinch three wickets, breaking the back of Punjab’s middle order.

Kings XI Punjab were reduced to 78/5 after Maxwell was dismissed in the 14th over. Samuel Badree choked up runs from his end as he gave away only 14 runs in his three overs.

3. Face-saving partnership from Axar Patel and Saha

With 6 overs to go and only 80 on the board, the duo was involved in a vital partnership which took Punjab to a total of respectability. Axar Patel carried on his impressive performance with the bat as he provided the necessary impetus during the death overs. At a strike rate of 223.5, Patel scored a priceless 38 off 17 balls, scoring three boundaries and two towering sixes. Saha too played his part with an important 21 with Axar.

4. Punjab bowlers making life difficult for the home side

The King’s XI Punjab bowlers were able to pick up three wickets in the powerplay. They were able to see the back of AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, which set up the game beautifully for the Kings XI Punjab. The man who took the four-wicket haul against the Delhi Daredevils was yet again responsible for taking the scalps of the Big three in the RCB batting line-up. Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers failed to put up a score yet again when the team needed contributions from them.

5. Yet another collective failure for RCB batsmen

Even though the Mandeep Singh and Pawan Negi tried desperately to revive their innings, RCB batsmen yet again fell down like a pack of cards for the nth time in the season. RCB were not able to play their entire quota of 2o overs and Kings XI Punjab won the match by a whopping margin of 19 runs, which seemed difficult during the half-time of the match. Only 3 out of the 11 batsmen were able to score in double-digits.