Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) continued their domination on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 31st match of the IPL 2020 in Sharjah. KXIP’s only win in IPL 2020 before this match came against RCB and they continued their good run against them.
RBC batted first after winning the toss and thanks to Kohli’s 48 and a late surge by Morris (25* in 8 balls), they managed 171/6 in 20 overs. RCB’s ploy to save AB de Villiers and promote Sundar and Dube before him left everyone scratching their heads.
M Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers with 2/25 in 4 overs.
In reply, KXIP opened with Mayank and Rahul, despite Chris Gayle coming into the playing XI. Mayank slammed 45 in 25 balls with 3 sixes and 4 fours before being bowled by Chahal in the 8th over when KXIP were on 78 runs.
In came the greatest T20 player of all-time for his first match of the tournament and after a slow start, lighted the Sharjah stadium up. He was well supported by captain KL Rahul, who followed his 132* in the first encounter against RCB, with 61* from 49 balls with 5 sixes and one four. Gayle made 53 in 45 balls with 5 sixes and 1 four.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the lone wicket-taker for RCB giving away 35 runs in 3 overs. KXIP managed to stretch the match to the last ball once again, but Nicholas Pooran hit a six off the last ball to secure the victory.
KXIP won the match by 8 wickets, adding to their 97-run win earlier in the tournament.
The Cricket fraternity lauded a brilliant performance by the Kings XI Punjab, who won their second match in the IPL 2020 on Twitter.
Here are the tweets:
