IPL 2018, KXIP vs RCB: 4 reasons why Punjab lost against Bangalore

It was a much-awaited encounter in the IPL today as the Kings XI Punjab took on the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was a do or die clash for the Bangalore side. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first.

Batting first, Punjab lost both their batting stalwarts: Chris Gayle and K.L Rahul with just 41 runs of the board. Punjab just could not recover from the early blows and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. The Punjab side could not even complete their full quota of 20 overs and was bundled out for just 88 runs in the 16th over.

In reply, RCB got off to a rollicking start courtesy of some excellent hitting from captain Kohli and Parthiv Patel. RCB chased down the target inside just nine overs to give a huge boost to their net run rate.

Let us have a look at the 4 reasons why Punjab lost.

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#1 Big guns disappoint

It is no secret that Punjab’s batting is heavily dependent on Chris Gayle and K.L Rahul. Punjab have invariably lost when these two have not been amongst the runs. Today as well, Punjab lost the plot once their openers departed.

Both Gayle and Rahul failed to make the most of their good luck and departed to pacy bouncers from Umesh Yadav. Both of them failed to control their pull shots and deposited easy catches into the lap of the deep square leg. Punjab could not recover from these early blows and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.

#2 Umesh’s day with the ball

Umesh Yadav has had a fine outing in this year’s IPL and is amongst the leading wicket-takers. Today as well, the Vidarbha Express was spot on with his line and picked up 3 crucial wickets while giving away just 23 runs.

He managed to induce an edge from the bat of Chris Gayle in the very first over but Parthiv Patel could not hold on. Leaving the disappointment aside, Umesh bowled an excellent second over, beating the batsmen consistently for pace. He was finally rewarded for his efforts in his 3rd over as he dismissed both the openers and changed the momentum of the match completely.

#3 Middle order fails again

Punjab have a power packed batting line up. But the big stars of their middle order have failed miserably. They have tried the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Akshdeep Nath, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Aaron Finch in their middle order but none of them has got going.

Today also, they failed to rise up to the occasion. With the openers gone and not many runs on the board, it was a perfect opportunity for the likes of Finch, Agarwal or Stoinis to register a big score. However, none of them could do anything of note as the Punjab side folded for a paltry score of 88 runs.

#4 Openers make it look easy

RCB know that even if they win all their matches, they could only get to 14 points and in that case, it would all come down to the Net Run Rate. It was a big opportunity for the RCB batsmen to boost the NRR by finishing off the chase quickly and they did just that.

Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli came out all guns blazing and made short work of the task at hand. Kohli made his intentions pretty clear by smashing Ankit Rajpoot for 2 fours and a six in the 3rd over of the chase. He was ably supported from the other end by Parthiv Patel who played an attractive cameo. Both the openers went after Punjab’s bowlers from the word go and chased down the target in just nine overs.