IPL 2016 : RCB edge out Kings XI in battle at the bottom
RCB pulled off a thrilling last-ball win by one run despite a fighting captain's knock of 89 from Murali Vijay at Mohali, thanks to a stifling penultimate over by Shane Watson. Earlier today, the visitors had put up 175 runs thanks to an all-out assault by AB de Villers who scored 64 off 35 balls.
Brief scores : RCB 175/6 in 20/20 overs (de Villiers 64(35), Rahul 42(25), Cariappa 2/26) defeated KXIP 174/4 in 20/20 overs (Vijay 89(57), Stoinis 34*(22), Watson 2/22) by one run
RCB and KXIP had together won only 3 tosses this IPL (not that the number of wins for both were too far ahead). Murali Vijay came out on top today when the coin was spun, and KXIP religiously chose to field first. The big news from the Punjab camp came in the form of Glen Maxwell, who was dropped in favour of the more all-round player in Behardien. Anureet Singh also joined the eleven to give Vijay the luxury of an extra pacer to operate with.
1. Cariappa spins the match around in one over
RCB started in spectacular fashion with KL Rahul smashing Marcus Stoinis for 20 runs in one over. But the next 2 overs of the powerplay were relatively low-scoring as the ball had started to slow down, and the pitch was starting to hold back. Vijay noticed the pattern and brought in KC Cariappa, and he struck in the third ball, removing the dangerous-looking Rahul for 42 to give Punjab the breakthrough. If that was not enough, the 22-year old delivered the big one two balls later to send back Virat Kohli for cheap, and suddenly Punjab were in control. The variation was impressive from the leggie - Rahul was dismissed with a seam-up delivery, while Kohli snatched a wide delivery away from his body to find Vijay at short cover. A perfect ploy by the captain, equally impressive execution by the bowler.
2. ABD spins it back for RCB
After those two wickets by Cariappa, Shane Watson followed suit very soon. Watson went for a blind slog, and the pitch did the rest as Axar Patel's ball did not bounce and instead went straight on to hit the stumps. From 63/1, RCB went to 67/3. However, AB de Villiers and Sachin Baby slowly rebuilt the innings – 6 runs each came off the next three overs without a single boundary. After going steady for some more time until the 15th over, ABD took 15 runs off Sandeep Sharma to signal the change of gears. He brought up his 50 with back-to-back boundaries in the next over. A six and a four greeted Sandeep Sharma next, but ABD fell in the fifth ball after taking RCB to a creditable total. 20 runs came off the last two overs, and RCB had managed to put up a target of 176 for Kings XI.
3. Chahal & Rahul attempt a takeover
Hashim Amla, who had a forgettable debut in the last match, was back to his favorite opening spot, and he responded to his captain's decision with a steady innings of 21 off 20. His opening stand with Murali Vijay took Kings XI to 45 before he fell to Watson. But, the better part was yet to come.
In the sixth over, Saha went down the track to Chahal, but missed the ball. Rahul, behind the stumps, as well missed the ball as it hit his helmet and dropped down. Luckily, Saha was so far down the pitch that Rahul had time enough to pick the ball up and take off the bails. Chahal again struck the very next ball as he slid in a beautiful delivery outside off. Miller, who had just come in, reached too far, and Rahul made no mistake this time around and whipped the bails away. Kings XI were suddenly 88/3.
4. Vijay takes the Kings through - almost
Murali Vijay, who had been anchoring the innings amid all this, had been in fine nick notching up 47 off 32 thus far. Deciding he cannot let his partners attempt to accelerate and fail anymore, Vijay took it upon himself. Chris Jordan, Iqbal Abdulla, and Chahal each went for two boundaries apiece as Vijay took Kings XI to 40 off 24 balls. Just 11 runs short of a well-deserved century, Vijay went for a pull that would have gone for a massive six at the Chinnaswamy or the Wankhede, but it could only go as far as Chahal on this better ground. Kings XI needed 37 off 18 balls. Marcus Stoinis and Behardien scored 13 off the 18th over and brought the equation to a gettable 24 off 12 balls. But Shane Watson bowled two dots in his penultimate over giving away just 7 runs. Needing 17 off 6 balls, Stoinis hit a four and a six off the second and third ball, but failed at the last hurdle when all that was needed was 6 off 3 balls.