AB de Villiers scored a half-century against KXIP. (Source: BCCI)
Royal Challengers Bangalore thoroughly dominated the game against Kings XI Punjab as they thumped the Punjab franchise by 4 wickets with three balls to spare to win the match in Bengaluru. Chasing a tricky total of 156, Bangalore lost early wickets including Brendon McCullum and Virat Kohli but AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock resisted well and stitched a strong partnership. Later, RCB lost wickets in quick succession but De Villiers stood strong at one end and went on to score a half-century. The South African was undone by Andrew Tye but that didn’t really affect the result of the match as Washington Sundar completed the win for RCB as he hit the winning stroke. Sundar looked off-colour in the first match that he played for RCB against Kolkata Knight Riders but looked in good touch on Friday. He scalped an important wicket of KL Rahul and also removed Marcus Stoinis to return with figures of 2/22 in 4 overs. The pick of the bowlers for RCB was Umesh Yadav who bagged the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch and Yuvraj Singh in one over. Here’s what pundits have to say about RCB’s win.
Ashwin’s captaincy. Mandeep’s batting. Sundar’s bowling. Aspects that might not get enough admiration and appreciation….but stood out. #RCBvKXIP
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) 13 April 2018
Good for RCB to get points on the board. Mujeeb bowled beautifully for 3 overs, the ball to get Kohli was a dream delivery, but ABD turned the game in his 4th over with those two sixes, will be a great learning curve for the 17 year old. #RCBvKXIP
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) 13 April 2018
A request to Bollywood/Tollywood/Sandalwood…pl don’t release any thrillers for next 45 days. IPL is providing one every night. 😊🙏🙌 #RCBvKXIP
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) 13 April 2018
What a start to this game. The first 4 overs had it all. Clean hitting, quality fast bowling…..not short of action. #RCBvKXIP
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 13 April 2018
Koi rustam kahin chupaaa hoga… Wow wow wow… What a moment for Mujeeb ur Rahman.. A 17 year old foxing the big boss of this format. Can only imagine the scenes at his house back in Afghanistan.. #VIVOIPL #RCBvKXIP
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) 13 April 2018