Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Kings XI Punjab in a high octane clash of Indian Premier League (IPL) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Bangalore won the toss and elected to field first, Punjab managed to score a fighting 155 due to a determined knock by Ashwin and some brilliant bowling by Umesh Yadav who took 3 KXIP wicket in a single over.
RCB won the game with 4 wickets in hand and got their first win of the campaign. Whereas the Punjab outfit would be dissapointed on not capitalising the winning start.
AB de Villiers scored a stunning match winning half century, which was brilliantly supported by Quinton de Kock and Mandeep Singh's steady knocks.
Bangalore would be looking to continue their winning start in the upcoming games of the IPL.
HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS:
Umesh Yadav - Player of the Match: I was backing myself and my strengths, bowling quick at the stumps. Whatever you want, you do it is what Kohli and the coach tells. They want me to bowl with pace and attack the stumps, and not worry about the variations. This pitch was slow; Kolkata pitch was quick, where the back of a length ball was kicking. If you bowl on a length here then the ball was skidding and that helped me. I think I enjoyed Yuvraj Singh's wicket the most.
Virat Kohli: Very happy. First home game is crucial. Last year, we couldn't get off to a start. Crowd has a lot of expectations, and tonight was a game we wanted badly, especially in the initial stages of the tournament. We knew new ball will come on nicely, and the batsmen hit some good shots. Umesh bowled well; getting three wickets in an over is great. Our mindset is - we want our best bowlers to step up and get confident early on. When only five are playing, you have to hit your areas well. They have done well. I think 170 would have been par. (The pitch is) Slightly better than the last year but against the older ball, middle overs can be difficult. We have lost two wickets in two balls in the last two games, so we have to work on them. Maybe stitch a little partnership. Back to back wickets pushes you back in the eight ball.
AB de Villiers: Really wanted to get over the line. Wanted to be not out in the end but feel sorry that I got out and put pressure on the lower order batsmen. I love guiding the team to victory being unbeaten, unfortunately couldn't do that. Anyways, credit to their bowling unit. The wicket was little bit on the slower side and Yuzi (Chahal) and Sundar bowled well. They got the important wickets and got the momentum our way at half stage. It's a really special place to play cricket - the Chinnaswamy. Get a lot of crowd support here. We didn't have a good season last year but we are going to make up for it this year.
# 18.1 Overs: OUT! Tye strikes and de Villiers goes. A late twist? RCB 146/5
# 17.2 Overs: SIX! Huuuuuggggeeeee! ABD completes his half century! RCB 141/4
# 16.6 Overs: Double Six by ABD! What a player he is. RCB 134/4
# 16.3 Overs: FOUR! Mandeep eases the pressure on ABD. RCB 121/4
# 14.5 Overs: FOUR! finally a boundary for RCB, ABD at it! RCB 108/4
# 11.3 Overs: OUT! Ashwin is turning the game alone. Sarfaraz with a golden duck. RCB 87/4
# 11.2 Overs: OUT! Bowled by Ashwin. QDK walks back. RCB 87/3
# 10.4 Overs: FOUR! Reverse sweep perfectly executed! RCB 86/2
# 9.5 Overs: FOUR! Swept away! QDK is looking really good down there. RCB 79/2
# 9.3 Overs: SIX! Huge from de Kock straight down the ground. RCB 75/2
# 7.6 Overs: FOUR! How clean is that by ABD! RCB 64/2
# 7.3 Overs: FOUR! Crunch! de Kock is on song tonight! RCB 59/2
# 7.1 Overs: SIX! Classic de Villiers! RCB 54/2
# 6.2 Overs: FOUR! Clean strike by de Kock. RCB 46/2
# 5.2 Overs: FOUR! de Kock steps out and dispatches Ashwin for a lovely lofted boundary. RCB 38/2
# 4.5 Overs: OUT! CLEAN BOWLED! Zadran has fooled Kohli with his googly and that is a rare sight. RCB 33/2
# 3.5 Overs: FOUR! Beauty of a cover drive. WOW. RCB 32/1
# 3.1 Overs: FOUR! Kohli pulls it away. RCB 26/1
# After 2 Overs RCB are 19/1, McCullum has departed for a golden duck!
# Royal Challengers Bangalore need 156 to win, after some superb bowling display
# 19.2 Overs: OUT! Mujeeb walks back and Punjab is all out. KXIP 155/10
# 18.5 Overs: OUT! Ashwin steps out for another biggie but Chahal pitches it wide for an easy stumping! KXIP 147/9
# 18.4 Overs: SIX! Ashwin is taking them to a respective score. KXIP 147/8
# 17.5 Overs: OUT! Kohli takes a dolly at Long on. KXIP 142/8
# 17.3 Overs: FOUR! Slapped through the extra cover region! Ashwin is putting up a fight. KXIP 140/7
# 14.6 Overs: OUT! Stonis heads back to pavillion.
# 14.4 Overs: FOUR! Ashwin at it, beautiful drive! KXIP 121/6
# 13.4 Overs: OUT! Stoinis has to walk back! KXIP 110/6
# 13.3 Overs: SIX! Stoinis steps out and Boom! KXIP 110/5
# 12.6 Overs: OUT! Nair departs, clean bowled by Khejroliya! KXIP 102/5
# 11.1 Overs: OUT! KL Rahul departs and Sundar strikes. KXIP 94/4
# 10.5 Overs: FOUR! Nair with a beautiful flick to Chahal. KXIP 94/3
# 8.6 Overs: FOUR! Rahul ain't stopping! KXIP 79/3
# 7.3 Overs: FOUR! Karun Nair joins the party. KXIP 66/3
# 6.5 Overs: SIX! BIG by Rahul. KXIP 60/3
# After 5 Overs KXIP are 49/3
# 3.6 Overs: OUT! Yuvraj departs and Umesh Yadav is on fire!
# 3.2 Overs: OUT! FINCH gone for duck. KXIP 32/1
# 3.1 Overs: OUT! Umesh Yadav strikes and Agarwal departs. KXIP 32/1
# 2.2 Overs: FOUR! Agarwal is on a flash here! KXIP 29/0
# 1.4 Overs: FOUR! Perfect cover drive by Agarwal. KXIP 20/0
# 1.1 Overs: FOUR! What a shot by Agarwal. KXIP 16/0
# After 1 Over KXIP are 16/0. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are at the crease.
# Royal Challengers Bangalore have won the toss and have opted to field
# Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
# Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Karun Nair, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman