Royal Challengers Bangalore finally broke their jinx be beating Kings XI Punjab at Mohali.
RCB’s star batsman Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers scripted a superb run chase sharing an 85 runs stand to lay the foundation. Virat Kohli picked 67 runs, while South African AB de Villiers got 59 runs.
When asked to bat first, West Indies opener Chris Gayle anchored KXIP’s innings by scoring 99 runs, taking Punjab to 173 for four total.
While, Kohli and AB de Villiers did the bulk scoring, Marcus Stoinis played a cameo by scoring 28 off 16 balls. During hte chase Parthiv Patel and Kohli gave RCB a flying start, partnering 43 in 3.5 overs.
AB de Villiers and Kohli then took the bowlers to the cleaners, picking up boundaries at will, RCB brought up the 100 within the 12th over. After losing a couple wickets, Marcus Stoinis and AB de Villiers ensured there were no hiccups, sharing 46 runs taking the visitors to comfortably win in the end.
Initially, Gayle stitched a 66 run stand in 6.2 overs with KL Rahul and kept the scoreboard ticking even though he lost partners on the other end. RCB missed to dismiss Gayle in the first over itself when he was hit on the leg by Umesh Yadav but Virat Kohli didn’t go for a DRS and the West Indian escaped.
Later, Gayle punished RCB bowlers Chahal, Siraj and Yadav to get KXIP to a decent, 170 plus total.