KINGS XI PUNJAB INNINGS
20th over: Chawla’s six does it for Punjab as they hold nerves to win by four wickets off the penultimate ball of the match and lift themselves to No. 4 in the points table.
Heroes of the Match: Azhar Mahmood with his three-wicket haul, Nitin Saini with 50, David Hussey 45 and Piyush Chawla with that winning six under pressure.
19th over: Punjab 154 for 6: Is there a twist left in the tale here? Now it’s Hussey who walks back with run out against his name. Top over by Zaheer Khan. Just two runs and two run-outs.
Abhishek Nayar run out 2 (3)
David Hussey run out 45 (29)
18th over: Punjab 152 for 4. Some closing hiccups there for Punjab as they lose two wickets in two overs. This time Azhar Mahmood falls short of the crease to get run out, but Punjab are in control here, needing just 7 off the last 12 balls.
Azhar Mahmood run out 2 (4)
17th over: Punjab 147 for 3. Wicket for Bangalore but a bit too late in the script. Saini falls after a well-made fifth as he skies one while looking to launch himself.
N Saini c Vettori b Khan 50 (36)
16th over: Punjab 146 for 2. Once again a six off the first ball of the over. That’s been Punjab’s strategy, and this time the Punjab skipper goes a step further to hit a second one off this over bowled by Asad Pathan that accrues 14 runs. Just 13 short of overhauling the target now. And Saini gets his maiden IPL half-century, off just 34 balls, including five fours.
15th over: Punjab 132 for 2. It was building up into a good over by Zaheer with just six runs off the first five balls. But Saini is in a different zone here as he judges the length early, swivels and smacks it to the square-leg boundary.
14th over: Punjab 122 for 2. Must be said that Saini is playing a crucial role in Punjab’s revival. It’s not easy when you have to replace Adam Gilchrist, but he has made it count. The Punjab ‘keeper is closing in on a half-century here.
13th over: Punjab 115 for 2. Hussey wants to leave nothing to chance here and tears into Appanna with two sixes and a four in the over, all over the bowler’s head. Just 44 needed now off 42 balls. Should be easy.
12th over: Punjab 98 for 2. It’s becoming relatively easy for Punjab as the RCB bowlers are unable to check the flow of boundaries. This time Hussey lifts Vettori for a four to ease the pressure.
11th over: Punjab 90 for 2. Appanna is guilty of providing width to Saini there who threads the gap between point and short third-man. And without taking any risk, Punjab get 10 runs off the over.
10th over: Punjab 80 for 2. Halfway stage, and the match is nicely poised. Punjab need 79 more off 60 balls with eight wickets in the bank. The visitors are the favourites at this stage. Saini and Hussey setting it up nicely so far.
9th over: Punjab 73 for 2. Appanna scalps Mandeep in his first over. Trying to sweep, Mandeep shuffles a bit too much as the ball strikes his pad right in front. The Punjab opener has surely allowed RCB to come back.
Mandeep Singh lbw b Appanna 43 (30)
8th over: Punjab 70 for 1. A misfield by Appanna at the cover boundary allows Punjab the boundary they needed off the over. Nitin Saini is the resultant beneficiary. That’s Vettori’s first over, in which he gives away nine runs. Punjab on course at the first strategic time-out.
7th over: Punjab 61 for 1. Mandeep Singh is making sure that Punjab get a boundary every over and don’t lose momentum. This time he pulls McDonald from outside the off stump for a flat four through midwicket.
6th over: Punjab 53 for 1: End of the Powerplay. Mandeep Singh had made it count for Punjab, scoring 36 off the 53 runs at a good rate.
5th over: Punjab 44 for 1: McDonald has done the trick here as he clean-bowls Shaun Marsh, who left a big gap between the bat and pad. Otherwise, nine runs off the over as well.
Shaun Marsh b McDonald 8 (10)
4th over: Punjab 35 for no loss. Eight runs off Vinay’s second over, including another four for Mandeep, who is on a roll with 25 off 16 balls.
3rd over: Punjab 27 for no loss. Mandeep Singh is turning it on here against Zaheer, who doesn’t like it one bit. First a punch past mid-off and then a flicked six over deep square-leg. The KXIP chase has taken off.
2nd over: Punjab 17 for no loss. Swing for Vinay Kumar as well, but cracking boundary hit by Shaun Marsh through backward point.
1st over: Punjab 11 for no loss. Mixed over by Zaheer. Two boundaries for Mandeep Singh – one off a pull and the other an edgy one – and a few hits and misses. But there’s a lot of swing on offer.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE INNINGS
20th over: Bangalore 158 for 5. Azhar Mahmoods’s craft again comes to the fore for Punjab. The non-resident Pakistani takes two wickets in the over while giving away just four runs to end with top figures of 3 for 20 in four overs.
But overall just the 36 runs scored and the four wickets lost in the last five overs pegged Bangalore back. Still a competitive score, though.
AB de Villiers c Chawla b Azhar Mahmood 17 (13)
Andrew McDonald c Saini b Azhar Mahmood 9 (10)
19th over: Bangalore 154 for 3: Something to cheer for RCB in that over. First McDonald gets a lucky boundary past the wicketkeeper and then de Villiers finishes off Awana’s over with slashed six over the third-man boundary. Awana has had an off day today, 4-0-48-0
18th over: 140 for 3. Hussey continues his good work and RCB’s downslide in the final overs. The Aussie allows just five singles off that over. McDonald and de Villiers are not able to break free despite wickets in hand.
17th over: 135 for 3. Chawla clean-bowls Kohli. The quicker delivery skids a little and beats Kohli’s attempted pull to peg his off stump back. de Villiers meanwhile in his groove with a reverse-sweep four through backward point.
Virat Kohli b Chawla 45 (42)
16th over: Bangalore 129 for 2. Mahmood does the trick and gets rid of the dangerous Gayle. After a slapped four through long-on, Gayle tries to clear deep square-leg but the ball bounces a touch too high and takes the edge to land in the substitute fielder David Miller’s hands.
Chris Gayle c sub (Miller) b Azhar Mahmood 71 (42)
15th over: Bangalore 122 for 1. Captain Davie Hussey puts himself in the firing line and comes up with a good over. Just five runs off the over, with Gayle and Kohli in the fifth gear, is a commendable effort. The partnership is now 115 off just 81 balls.
14th over: Bangalore 117 for 1. The floodgates have well and truly opened here, and Gayle signals that by sending Abhishek Nayar out of the stadium, after Kohli’s six over long-off on the first ball of the over.
13th over: Bangalore 101 for 1. 19 runs off that Awana over, and a 22-ball half-century for Chris Gayle. This man knows no stopping. The over reads 2, 1(wd), 1, 1, 4, 4, 6, and the cheer of RCB…RCB…RCB reverberates in the stadium.
12th over: Bangalore 82 for 1. Chawla’s confident has clearly taken a battering since that 27-run over against Mumbai. Two sixes off this over. First one by Gayle off a half-tracker and second one by Kohli who dances down to hit it over the sight screen.
11th over: Bangalore 64 for 1. Gayle plays that Mahmood over as if this is an 11-over game. Clears his front foot on all the five balls he faced in that over, only to edge it around for ones and twos.
10th over: Bangalore 59 for 1. Piyush Chawla into the attack and RCB have taken it as their ‘Happy Hours’. Pitches it short first up and Gayle gets enough bat and muscle on his shot to send it sailing over the mid-wicket boundary. Kohli joins in the fun one ball later, again off a short ball, but he hits it around the ground for a boundary. Eleven runs in total from the over.
9th over: Bangalore 48 for 1. Azhar Mahmood into the attack and Gilchrist – being interviewed on the sidelines – hails his performance. And like on most occasions since his arrival, he keeps the batsmen guessing with his variation. Gayle and Kohli are clearly taking their time out there. Preserving wickets for a late onslaught?
8th over: Bangalore 44 for 1. Awana once again concedes a four off the first ball, again to Kohli and again comes back well to keep it to seven runs from the over.
7th over: Bangalore 37 for 1. Praveen Kumar has bowled out here. No wickets but what control over that swing – both ways. Not even Gayle has been able to sort him out today. Figures of 4-0-8-0 in Twenty20 cricket are none less than gold dust even without nothing in the wickets column.
6th over: Bangalore 33 for 1. Awana has begun decently here, keeping it to eight runs off the over despite conceding a four to Kohli off the first ball. Overall, it’s been all Punjab in the Powerplay, where they have kept a lid on the scoring rate.
5th over: Bangalore 25 for 1. It’s as if Praveen Kumar isn’t bothered what’s happening to Harris at the other end. The Indian is simply unplayable today. In his three overs, he has just given away four runs.
4th over: Bangalore 24 for 1. Gayle is on his way here as he tears into Harris, rounding off his over with three consecutive boundaries – first through the mid-wicket, second one over point and the last one again crashes into the mid-wicket fence.
3rd over: Bangalore 10 for 1. Praveen Kumar is in the zone here. Another good over, just two runs off it. This time he keeps Gayle and Kohli guessing and fishing around.
2nd over: Punjab 9 for 1. After getting welcomed with a six carved over the covers by Mayank Agarwal, the Aussie delivers a peach that leaves Aggarwal just enough to beat his bat and send the off stump cartwheeling.
Mayank Agarwal b Harris 7 (9)
1st over: Punjab 1 for no loss. Perfect beginning for Punjab as Praveen Kumar starts off with five dot balls and just a single off the last one to Mayank Aggarwal who keeps the strike
7:45 p.m. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Harshal Patel are not in the RCB XI for today’s match. So that’s a big change at the top of the RCB batting order.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers (wk), Saurabh Tiwary, Andrew McDonald, Daniel Vettori (c), Asad Pathan, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, KP Appanna
Kings XI Punjab: Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, David Hussey (c), Azhar Mahmood, Abhishek Nayar, Paras Dogra, Nitin Saini (wk), Piyush Chawla, Ryan Harris, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana
7:30 p.m. David Hussey wins the toss and Punjab are fielding. No Adam Gilchrist still for them but Ryan Harris has flown straight into the KXIP eleven from West Indies and replaced David Miller. Paras Dogra and Abhishek Nayar are also in the eleven.
RCB skipper Daniel Vettori says he would have fielded as well. Andrew McDonald and Asad Pathan are in for Bangalore today. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Harshal Patel will warm the bench.
7:15 p.m. Welcome! It’s a pleasure to have you back for our continued coverage of the Indian Premier League. Today, we are back in Bangalore where the hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore are all in readiness to host Kings XI Punjab in what is a crucial Match 44 of IPL season five.
Just one point separates Punjab (8) and Bangalore (9) but the latter have played one game less, which gives them slight advantage. Toss coming up next in about 15 minutes.