Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin rued the inept fielding display from his team after its home loss on Saturday (April 13) in IPL 2019 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The win became RCB's first this season after seven matches, whereas KXIP saw its seven-game undefeated streak in Mohali come to an end.

Batting first, Kings XI posted a first innings total of 173/4 on the back of Chris Gayle's unbeaten 99-run knock off 64 balls. The 174-run target was always going to be tough to defend on a flat pitch with dew around, but the hosts made their task even harder by fielding poorly on the night. Virat Kohli (67),  AB de Villiers (59*) and Marcus Stoinis (28*) batted magnificently well and ensured a comfortable eight-wicket victory for their side. 

"We tried with wrist spinners and even I came to bowl, but they were smart enough to knock around and not take any chances," said Ashwin at the post-match presentation. "As We let ourselves down in the field. We drooped catches and let a lot of balls go through us. The dew helped the wicket on."

"It was really dry in the first half. It gets better to bat in the second half. With 38 needed off 3 overs, I had to back my best bowlers to do the job, didn't quite work out today."

Ashwin perhaps made two genuine errors of not batting Nicholas Pooran ahead of Mandeep Singh and giving the ball to part-timer Sarfaraz Khan, not Sam Curran, in the final over when RCB needed just 6 runs. But he said, "There were only 6 runs to go and the ball was sliding on nicely. I thought the best way against AB and Stoinis was to try and go with a leggie, not that Sam can't defend."

Despite it's first win, RCB continues to languish at the bottom of the eight-team IPL 2019 points table with only two points after seven matches, while Kings XI Punjab remains in fifth position with 8 points from 8 games. 

(Inputs from PTI)