IPL 2019: AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis give RCB a 17-run win over Kings XI Punjab 

Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their hopes alive by beating Kings XI Punjab by 17 runs in the 42nd match of IPL 2019 played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Wednesday.

Kings XI captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and decided to field first. It was a great opening by Parthiv Patel who looked in aggressive touch right from word go. RCB captain Virat Kohli played some lovely shots before being dismissed by Mohammed Shami for 13 runs. Patel and Kohli added 35 in 3.1 overs. Patel attacked the Kings XI Punjab pacers and did not allow them to settle. At the end of six overs, RCB raced to 70 for 1.

After the power play overs, Murugun Ashwin struck a blow by dismissing Parthiv Patel for 43 off 24 balls. Kings XI Punjab bowlers made a great comeback as they took wickets of Moeen Ali and Akshdeep Nath. AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis steadied the RCB innings taking singles and hitting boundaries. De Villiers reached his fifty off 35 balls.

It was an amazing display of batting by AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis who scored 48 runs in the last 2 overs. Both added 121 unbeaten runs for the 5th wicket, helping RCB post a competitive total of 202 for 4.

Chasing the target of 203 runs to win, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul got the team off to a flying start, adding 42 runs for the 1st wicket in 3.2 overs. Umesh Yadav got the big breakthrough, dismissing Gayle for a quick-fire 23 off 10 balls. At the end of six overs, Kings XI Punjab scored 68 for 1.

After the power play overs, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul continued to play with positive intent, putting pressure on RCB bowlers. Marcus Stoinis got the breakthrough by dismissing Mayank Agarwal for 35 off 21 balls. Agarwal and KL Rahul added 59 runs for the 2nd wicket. It was an amazing display of batting by Rahul who looked in great touch.

Moeen Ali got the breakthrough off his first ball of the spell, dismissing the dangerous KL Rahul for 42. Nicolas Pooran came to the crease and showed his positive intent, putting pressure on Washington Sundar and Mooen Ali. David Miller also played some lovely strokes. Miller and Pooran added 68 runs for the 4th wicket. With 30 runs required off the last 2 overs, Navdeep Saini bowled a brilliant 19th over, dismissing Miller and the dangerous Nicolas Pooran.

With 27 runs required off the last over, Umesh Yadav held his nerves to help RCB register a 17-run win.

Brief scores: RCB 202 for 4 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 82*, Marcus Stoinis 46*, R Ashwin 1/15) beat Kings XI Punjab 185 for 7 in 20 overs (Pooran 46, KL Rahul 42, Umesh Yadav 3/36, Saini 2/33) by 17 runs.

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