Kohli’s slow batting cost Bangalore in IPL
BANGALORE: Kings XI won the toss and asked Bangalore to bat first. Bangalore loses Mayank early. Gayle and Virat played well and added 119 runs for 2nd wicket but they batted slowly allowing Praveen Kumar to concede just eight runs in his four overs.
Gayle made 71 runs in 42 balls and Kohli returns to form with a slow innings of 45 runs in 42 balls.
Azhar Mahmood bowled well in last overs and picks three wickets for just 20 runs. He picked the wicket of dangerous AB de Villiers and gayle thus restricting Bangalore to a modest total of 158 runs.
Punjab chased the target well with some good batting from Mandeep, Saini and Hussey.
At one stage they were looking to win it easily but tight bowling brings the game closer. In the end they won the game with a six from Chawla with one ball remaining.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 158 for 5 (Gayle 71, Kohli 45, Mahmood 3-20)
Kings XI Punjab 163 for 6 (Saini 50, Hussey 45, Mandeep 43)
Hussey: “We tried to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory … but a win is a win. We have confidence now. We need to go back and perform in front of our home crowd.”
Vettori: “We’ve got some big games coming up, we need to get back on that roll of winning and make the semis. The last five overs of both innings were interesting, lots of wickets lots of pressure. Only scoring 30 runs off our last five overs really hurt us.”
Hussey says Ryan Harris got hit on the calf with the ball and so had to go off the field.
Mahmood is the man of the match: “Love it, I’m enjoying my cricket. Two big wins. quite pleased with the performance. We just believe in ourselves, we like each other’s company, each others’ success. Everyone’s working hard, it’s paying off.
