IPL 2020, RCB vs KXIP: KL Rahul & Chris Gayle shines as KXIP beat RCB by 8 wickets
In the 31st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 8 wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE. KXIP dominated the RCB bowlers tonight, with Skipper KL Rahul playing an impressive innings of undefeated 61 runs off 49 balls. Season debutant Chris Gayle also shined for the KXIP with his brilliant knock of 53 runs off 45 balls tonight. Aided by Virat Kohli's 48 runs knock and Chris Morris's last-minute explosive knock of undefeated 25 runs, the RCB gave a low target of 172 runs for the KXIP to chase at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. While Royal Challengers Banglore sit comfortably at the 3rd position in the points table of IPL 2020, the Kings XI Punjab have kept their chances of making into the playoffs alive with their thumping victory tonight.
Skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. Royal Challengers Bangalore has a slow start tonight. While openers Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal lost their wickets in the early, Skipper Virat Kohli played a brilliant knock of 48 runs off 39 balls. Washington Sundar came early for the RCB to bat but failed to impress tonight as he lost his wicket after making 13 runs off 14 balls. Shivam Dube also joined Sundar after making only 23 runs off 19 balls tonight. After the fall of the duo, AB de Villiers came to the crease to rescue the sinking ship of RCB but remained unsuccessful as he lost his wicket after making just 2 runs tonight. Aided by Chris Morris's explosive cameo of undefeated 25 runs off 8 balls, the RCB was able to set a decent target of 172 runs for the KXIP to chase tonight. Mohammed Shami and Murugan Ashwin shined tonight with their impressive spell of 4 overs while also grabbing 2 wickets each. However, Ashwin remained the most economical bowler in his spell.
Kings XI Punjab had a great start aided by skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal's explosive knocks. While Skipper remained undefeated with his amazing knock of 61 runs off 49 balls, the Agarwal played explosively with his knock of 45 runs off 25 balls. After the fall of Agarwal's wicket, this season's debutant Chris Gayle impressed everyone tonight with him playing an impressive innings of 53 runs off 45 balls. Nicholas Pooran's last-ball 6 ensured a successful chase for the KXIP tonight. Yuzvendra Chahal remained the solo wicket-taker for the RCB tonight.
Tonight's dominating win for the Kings XI Punjab has rescued the team from losing the hopes for making into the playoffs for now. They need to showcase consistent performance in their rest of the matches as well if they want to make it into the playoffs in the 13th edition of IPL.
Royal Challengers are in a safe position in the 13th edition of IPL for now, but they need to improve the performance of both their batting and bowling line-ups. Chris Morris is Proving to be a great asset for the RCB with his impressive all-rounder performance.
