IPL 2018, RCB vs KXIP: Hits and Misses

After being put into bat by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) were off to a blazing start, courtesy of home boys KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal.

KL Rahul struck a couple of sixes and a four in the first over, before Mayank Agarwal struck 3 fours in the next two overs, as KXIP made 32 in the first three overs. But a three-wicket over from a fiery Umesh Yadav derailed the Punjab batting.

KL Rahul and Karun Nair rebuilt the innings with a 58-run stand but, the latter’s wicket snatched the momentum away once again. KXIP ended with 155 after Ravichandran Ashwin scored a very good 21-ball 33.

In reply, RCB lost Brendon McCullum off the second ball of the innings. Virat Kohli came in and looked good but, was undone by a brilliant wrong’un from the 17-year-old Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

But, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers got the chase back on track with a 54-run partnership. Just when everything was going well for RCB, Ashwin took two wickets in two balls to bring the match back in the balance. But AB de Villiers’ brilliance helped RCB record their first win of the season.

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#5 Miss: Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is arguably one of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball but, he has had an interesting 12 months. He was dropped from the Indian team after his failures in the Champions Trophy and due to fitness issues.

This year, he returned to his first IPL side and his home team, KXIP. In the first game, he struggled with the bat. He scored a sluggish 12 in 22 balls in the chase of 167, as KL Rahul’s fastest ever IPL fifty masked the southpaw’s struggles.

Yuvraj walked out to bat after KXIP had lost two wickets in two balls against an on-song Umesh Yadav. He played a very good cover drive off his first delivery but, it was straight to the fielder. On his third delivery, he hit a pull shot which went just over the fine-leg fielder who was well inside the boundary.

Umesh Yadav then knocked over Yuvraj as the latter’s struggles continued, as he was dismissed for just 4.

#4 Hit: Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin had a very good game with both bat and ball

Ahead of the IPL, Ravichandran Ashwin was seen practising leg-spin and, with wrist-spinners calling the shots, he was going to use his new weapon (leg-spin) more often. After a good opening game, both as captain and bowler (picking up 1/23 in 4 overs), Ashwin continued his good form.

First, he contributed with the bat when KXIP were in trouble. Ashwin walked out to bat at 110/6 in the 14th over and, scored a fluent 33 in 21 balls. His innings helped Punjab post a competitive total of 155.

With the ball, he was expensive in his first three overs as he gave away 29 runs. But, he turned it around in his final over. On the second ball of his fourth over, looking at Quinton de Kock advance down the track, Ashwin pulled his length back a touch and pushed it through and castled de Kock. Off the very next delivery, he unleashed the leg-spinner in him and dismissed Sarfaraz Khan to reduce RCB to 87/4.

Ashwin’s captaincy was spot on as well. He made some good bowling changes and was aggressive with his captaincy.

#3 Miss: Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz was dismissed for a golden-duck

When a 17-year-old Sarfaraz Khan smashed Rajasthan Royals bowlers all around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, it made Virat Kohli make a special gesture towards the teenage sensation and applauded the innings.

However, due to fitness and injury issues, Sarfaraz didn’t feature in a lot of games in the next two seasons. But, when retained by RCB this year, there were quite a few eyebrows raised.

In the first game against KKR, Sarfaraz struggled to get going and eventually was dismissed for a sluggish 10-ball 6. In the second game, once again he let his team down as he was dismissed for a golden duck.

Batting at No. 5, Sarfaraz came into bat after the fall of Quinton de Kock’s wicket. With RCB at 87/3, someone needed to put up a good stand with AB de Villiers, but the 20-year-old batsman got out to a poor shot. With a slip in place, Sarfaraz looked to run the ball down to third man and was caught. His wicket left RCB at 87/4.

#2 Hit: Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav bowled a fiery over where he picked up 3 wickets and put KXIP under pressure

After a very good game against Kolkata Knight Riders, where he took 2 wickets for 27 runs, he brought RCB back in the game after Sunil Narine’s blistering start. Given the new ball in this game, Yadav bowled a fiery spell up front.

He was hit for a couple of fours in his first over, but he came back brilliantly. In his second over, he turned the game on its head as he took 3 big wickets.

On the first ball, Quinton de Kock took a superb catch as Yadav got his first wicket. The Vidarbha pacer then dismissed Aaron Finch, LBW for a golden duck. And off the final ball, Yuvraj Singh was cleaned bowled, as Punjab went from 32/0 to 36/3 in the space of one over.

Umesh Yadav’s pace troubled the batsmen, and was spot on with his line and length. In his first spell, he had figures of 3/15 with 12 dot balls. He came back to bowl his final over in the 17th over, and finished off the day well and ended with figures of 3/23.

#1 Hit: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers struck 3 sixes in 3 balls and put RCB ahead

There is absolutely no doubt that AB de Villiers is one of the best batsmen in the world. He looked in very good form in the first game, as he scored 44, before he threw it away.

In this game, he strode out to the middle with RCB 33/2, after they had just lost skipper Virat Kohli. First, de Villiers stitched a good partnership with Quinton de Kock, to put RCB on track. But after the latter’s dismissal, the South African star batsman, took responsibility and played a superb innings. He was striking at a run-a-ball until the end of the 16th over.

But with 41 needed off 4 overs, de Villiers turned on the heat, as he smashed 2 sixes off Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and a six off Mohit Sharma, to kill the game.

Though he was dismissed with 10 runs to go, his 57 put RCB in the driver’s seat. In his 40-ball innings, de Villiers struck 2 fours and 4 sixes and helped RCB get their first win of the season.

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