Kings XI Punjab took advantage of Virat Kohli’s absence from the Royal Challengers Bangalore line-up by thrashing last season’s Indian Premier League finalists by eight wickets on Monday.
Kohli, who top-scored at IPL 9 with 973 runs, is missing the opening few weeks of IPL 10 with injury, and RCB struggled without their captain.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat, RCB’s innings got off to a disastrous start when Australian batsman Shane Watson was bowled in the first over by Axar Patel for one run. Fellow opener Vishnu Vinod (7) was removed two overs later when he misjudged a pull shot off the bowling of Sandeep Sharma and found Glenn Maxwell at long-on.
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From 18-2, RCB then slumped to 22-3 when Kedar Jadhav was trapped lbw by Varun Aaron in the fourth over.
That RCB remained somewhat competitive was down solely to South African batsman AB De Villiers, whose unbeaten 46-ball 89 steered his side to a total of 148. De Villiers was supported firstly by Mandeep Singh (28) before he fell to Aaron, and then by Stuart Binny, who provided 18 runs from 20 deliveries at the end of the innings.
Defending their total was always going to be a tough task for RCB and so it proved.
Manan Vohra and South African Hashim Amla put on 62 runs for the first wicket before England paceman Tymal Mills trapped Vohra lbw for 34.
Yuzvendra Chahal then bowled Patel (9), but at 78-2 and with nearly 12 overs to play, Kings XI remained in control of the game.
A 38-ball 58 by Amla and 43 runs from 22 deliveries for Maxwell saw Kings XI home with more than five overs remaining, much to the delight of their fans inside the Holkar Cricket Stadium.
The victory continues Kings XI Punjab’s perfect start to the season after their opening six wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiant, while RCB are yet to taste victory having previously lost to defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs.
Kings XI are next in action on Thursday when they travel to Kolkata to face the Knight Riders. RCB host Mumbai Indians a day later at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
* The National staff
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