IPL 2018, RCB vs KXIP: 5 talking points
The batting-friendly surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was the venue for the eighth match of the 2018 IPL as hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) aimed to get their season up and running against the visitors Kings XI Punjab(KXIP).
Put into bat by RCB skipper Virat Kohli who won the toss, KXIP started off brightly before Umesh Yadav struck three times in an over much to the delight of the home crowd.
Though KL Rahul and Karun Nair attempted to stage a comeback, losing wickets in clusters hurt the visitors' cause as they were bundled out for a below-par score of 155.
A splendid effort by the Kings XI spinners made it an interesting contest for a period of the match but the target proved too little in the end as the hosts won the contest by four wickets.
Here are the five major talking points from today's match.
#5 Going for the juggler too soon costs Punjab
Kings XI Punjab got IPL 2018 off to a winning note on the back of an attacking display against Delhi Daredevils on Sunday and the Ravichandran Ashwin-led side was intent on repeating the tactic yet again on Friday against RCB.
They started off well, racing to 32 off three overs before Yadav wreaked havoc picking up three wickets in the fourth over.
It was Mayank Agarwal's dismissal after he raced down the track in an attempt to hit the ball back over the bowler's head, only to find an outside edge back to the wicketkeeper.
This triggered the mini-collapse and he could have shown more composure than attempting to go after arguably RCB's best pacer.
Rahul and Nair strung together a 56-run partnership for the fourth wicket but the former played a loose shot, attempting to heave the ball over the mid-wicket boundary and only ended up top-edging the ball to short third-man.
The lack of patience from the Kings' XI batsman continued as Marcos Stoinis jumped down the track to hit Washington Sundar for a maximum only to be deceived by the ball's trajectory and was out stumped by Quinton De Kock.
The dismissals left Punjab with very little options at the back end of the innings and it was a sensible knock by the skipper which allowed the visitors to post a total in excess of 150.