IPL 2017: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 5 Talking Points
It eventually turned out to be a walk in the park for KXIP as they chased down a total of 149 with great ease. Royal Challengers Bangalore huffed and puffed to reach that total and they have AB de Villiers to thank for the same, as he came back from injury to score a scintillating 89 off just 46 balls with nine sixes.
Kedar Jadhav got a rough umpiring decision and that didn’t help matters on a two-paced pitch where no other RCB batsman could break the shackles. In contrast, KXIP got off to a fine start with Vohra scoring a 21-ball 34. Amla and Maxwell finished off the game in a canter adding 72 in just 38 balls to win the match in just 14.3 overs, giving their net run-rate a huge boost.
Here we look at some of the talking points of the match.
#1 Mr. 360’s blazing return
Indore is a home ground for the Kings XI Punjab, but looking at the way the crowd was chanting, ‘AB, AB’, one could have mistaken it to be the Chinnaswamy. And he didn’t disappoint, despite coming off an injury.
AB de Villiers walked in at No. 3 in the second over of the match and remained not-out right until the end. De Villiers scored 89 of the 148 runs that RCB posted having faced just 46 out of the 120 balls.
His strike-rate was 193.47, while all the other RCB batsmen had strike-rates below 100. The second highest score was Mandeep Singh’s 28. AB’s innings included a ferocious slog-scoop over cow-corner that was 97 meters long.
There was a wonderful lofted drive over long-off where he skipped down the track and then had to reach across the width of the pitch to connect with a wider delivery. There was an extra cover drive for a six too. In all, AB smashed nine sixes and three fours during his innings, Mohit Sharma getting the stick towards the end.