IPL 2018, KXIP vs RCB: 4 reasons why Punjab lost against Bangalore

It was a much-awaited encounter in the IPL today as the Kings XI Punjab took on the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was a do or die clash for the Bangalore side. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first.

Batting first, Punjab lost both their batting stalwarts: Chris Gayle and K.L Rahul with just 41 runs of the board. Punjab just could not recover from the early blows and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. The Punjab side could not even complete their full quota of 20 overs and was bundled out for just 88 runs in the 16th over.

In reply, RCB got off to a rollicking start courtesy of some excellent hitting from captain Kohli and Parthiv Patel. RCB chased down the target inside just nine overs to give a huge boost to their net run rate.

Let us have a look at the 4 reasons why Punjab lost.

---

#1 Big guns disappoint

It is no secret that Punjab’s batting is heavily dependent on Chris Gayle and K.L Rahul. Punjab have invariably lost when these two have not been amongst the runs. Today as well, Punjab lost the plot once their openers departed.

Both Gayle and Rahul failed to make the most of their good luck and departed to pacy bouncers from Umesh Yadav. Both of them failed to control their pull shots and deposited easy catches into the lap of the deep square leg. Punjab could not recover from these early blows and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.

​