Kings XI Punjab made life tougher for Royal Challengers Bangalore to reach the IPL 8 play-offs as they outsmarted the visitors by 22 runs in a match that was reduced to 10 overs a side due to rain at Mohali on Wednesday.
Wriddhiman Saha's entertaining knock of 31 runs off 12 balls at the top of the order helped KXIP post 106 for six against RCB. The star studded batting line-up of RCB failed to deliver in the short chase as they could only reach 84 for six in 10 overs.
RCB however, are still very much in contention for a play-off berth, having 13 points from 12 games with two games remaining. KXIP, are already out of the competition, having won only their third game of the season. RCB were 33 for one by the first three overs of the chase with skipper Kohli (19 off 9) falling to Anureet Singh after dispatching the medium pacer for two fours and a straight six over long-on.
IPL 8: KXIP v/s RCB - KXIP win by 22 runs
Kohli's wicket meant Gayle and AB de Villiers had work to do. However, the partnership did not last long as pacer Sandeep Sharma had Gayle (17 of 14) caught behind off a well-directed short ball, leaving the visitors reeling at 44 for two in 4.4 overs. RCB lost de Villiers (10 off 9), when he swept straight to the man at short-fine leg, thus leaving RCB needing 40 off the last 20 balls.
The onus was on Mandeep Singh and Dinesh Karthik to get RCB over the line but it proved to be too much of a task for them. Earlier, make shift opener Saha launched an all-out attack from ball one before another quick-fire knocks from David Miller (14 off 4) and Akshar Patel (20* off 15) pushed Kings XI to a competitive total.
The game, supposed to start at 8 pm (IST), began two hours and 45 minutes late with RCB putting KXIP in to bat on a green surface. Saha, replacing Murali Vijay at the top, got the hosts off to a cracking start much to the joy of fans who waited hours for the action to begin.
Saha, opening alongside Manan Vohra, smashed Mitchell Starc for two fours in the opening over of the innings before hammering left-arm pacer Sreenath Aravind in an over that went for 20 runs.
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