RCB vs KXIP - RCB win by a massive 138-run margin, 40th Match, IPL 2015

RCB win by a massive 138-run margin. This is the lowest
score by any IPL team this season. This is the second
heaviest defeat in terms of runs in IPL history.
Earlier in the day, Gayle's blitzkrieg just floored KXIP's
bowlers into submission. During Gayle's blizzard, he
cracked as many as seven sixes. In fact, he walloped
Mitchell Johnson for 20 runs in a single over. Gayle reached
his 14th T20 hundred and his fifth ton for RCB in a mere 46
balls. During his knock, he also reached 3,000 runs in the
IPL. For the visitors, Anureet Singh bowled a fine spell.
However, they would rue the fact that Gayle was dropped
twice.
After Chris Gayle smashed KXIP's attack to shreds, their
batsmen put up a listless show to slump towards a
demoralising defeat. It turned out to be the second heaviest
defeat in the history of the IPL in terms of runs. It was
Sreenath Aravind, in his comeback game, who bowled with
zest and vigour to snaffle four wickets. He even took the
prized scalps of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. Mitchell
Starc too picked up four wickets.
Overs 7, 8 & 9 : Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack and he
bowls a good first over. Just five runs off it. KXIP would be
looking more at survival than going hammer-and-tongs at
the bowling at this stage.
Aravind is in scintillating form. He takes his fourth wicket of
the evening. This time Bailey is out bowled and KXIP slide
towards a massive, massive defeat.
Mitchell Starc is back into the attack as RCB look to close
things off. And yep, he gets another wicket to his name.
Wait, not one but two in the over. He has Johnson and
Anureet Singh out bowled in the same over. RCB are racing
towards a huge win. KXIP - 51/8.
Overs 5 & 6 : Aravind is chipping away at the wickets here.
It's Saha's turn to head back home, and one ball later, it's
Miller's. KXIP are in dire straits and they will need a super-
human effort from George Bailey to help his side cross the
line. He has to play out of their skins , says Mike Haysman,
and that is aptly put. KXIP - 34/5.
Overs 3 & 4 : RCB's run today is only getting better. Harshal
Patel comes in and immediately gives his side a big reason
to rejoice with the wicket of Murali Vijay, out bowled for
two. He gave away just one off the over.
19/2 becomes 20/3. Aravind gets the one man who
could've made this total look like peanuts. Glenn Maxwell
ends up dragging a short ball on to his stumps, and it looks
like it's curtains already for KXIP.
Overs 1 & 2 : Mitchell Starc, as he so often does, struck for
his side in the very first over. He had Manan Vohra out
caught by David Wiese to give RCB a dream start. RCB gave
away four bonus runs via an overthrow a ball later, but it
was still a start RCB would have hoped for after a stunning
first innings.
Sreenath Aravind came on to bowl for RCB for the first time
since 2012, and he was greeted by Wriddhiman Saha with a
fine six. He however made a good comeback by giving away
just two more runs in the over. KXIP - 19/1.
Overs 19 & 20 : AB de Villiers takes over from where Gayle
left off. Axar Patel gets some severe treatment as ABD
smashes him for a six and two fours in the over. 15 runs
came off it.
Anureet Singh to bowl the final over. And he bowls a very
good one. Sarfaraz Khan manages to score a boundary, but
RCB can only score five singles otherwise as RCB end with a
mammoth 226/3. Anureet Singh ends with superb figures of
0/25 in his four over.
Overs 17 & 18 : Gayle finally departs! Gayle greets Axar
Patel with a four and a six off the first two balls, but Axar
follows that up with three dot balls to the West Indian and
finally wraps up the over by taking a sharp catch off his own
bowling to send back the left-hander for an outstanding 57-
ball 117.
Sandeep Sharma to bowl over #18. He uses the yorker to
good effect once again. Dinesh Karthik, who came in at the
fall of Gayle' wicket, could only add eight more runs to the
tally, including a fine six, as he was out bowled. RCB
brought up 200 in the over. They were 202/3.
Overs 15 & 16 :
Well, well. AB de Villiers is starting to weave his magic, too.
He hangs back and pulls Karanveer Singh for a six over mid-
wicket off the second ball and then follows that up with two
stunning sixes over the cover region. Gayle puts his stamp
on the over, too, with a four on the leg-side. That's only his
6th four of the innings. He has 11 sixes.
This.man.is.insane! That's 23 off the over.
The full repertoire of ABD's shots are being unleashed. A
reverse-scoop off a high full toss gets him four more, but
RCB can only get four more singles off the over. Good
comeback from Anureet Singh. Eight off the over. RCB -
178/1.
Overs 13 & 14 :
Karanveer Singh is brought on, but there's no stopping
Gayle. Gayle and de Villiers get six off the first four
deliveries, but then Gayle steps up and smashes the leggie
for two big sixes straight down the wicket to give his side
another big over.
GAYLE SCORES HIS FIFTH HUNDRED FOR RCB! He chips
Mitchell Johnson wide of fine-leg to bring up another
stunning hundred, and he jumps out a gives his best
impression of the Cristiano Ronaldo celebration to boot.
RCB - 148/1.
Overs 11 & 12 : Gayle is unstoppable it seems. He wallops
Axar Patel onto the rood of the Chinnaswamy off the first
ball, and does an encore off the last ball. RCB have already
hit 9 sixes, and if Gayle keeps batting the way he is, we can
expect a lot, lot more.
Sandeep Sharma is brought back into the attack and he
finally gives his side some respite. He has Virat Kohli out
bowled with an accurate yorker. The first RCB wicket falls
with the score at 119, but look who walks out? AB de
Villiers! Four runs and a wicket off that over. RCB 123/1.
Overs 9 & 10 : Axar Patel gets a go now, and he almost
strikes gold with his first delivery. Gayle goes for a slog, but
only manages to find the fielder at deep square leg.
However, Manan Vohra puts down a regulation catch in the
deep to give the West Indian his second reprieve of the
game. To add insult to injury, Kohli jumps down the wicket
and slams the left-hander for his first six of the game. 10 off
Axar's first over.
Maxwell to continue. And Chris Gayle to continue hitting his
sixers. Two huge sixes over the bowlers head to bring up
RCB's hundred in the 10th over. 15 off the over. RCB -
104/0
Overs 7 & 8 : Anureet Singh back to bowl his second over,
and it is a really good over from the Punjab youngster. Just
three singles came off it.
Glenn Maxwell has been brought on, and Kohli welcomes
him with a well-placed cut for four. Gayle notched up his
3000th IPL run in the over, becoming the first foreigner to do
so. Eight off the over. RCB - 79/0.
Overs 5 & 6 : Sadagopan Ramesh likens this partnership to a
pupil and his headmaster at school. The headmaster is
Gayle, of course.
Anureet Singh is into the attack and Virat Kohli, straight
away, takes him on. Chips down the tracks and hits a
sumptuous boundary wide of cover, while Gayle continues
with his towering hits with another trademark six over deep
mid-wicket. Hold on, some luck for Anureet Singh as the ball
seems to have hit the spider-cam wires on its way over the
boundary and is called a dead ball. He gets another go and
this time Gayle can only get a single.
Johnson with his third over and Gayle continues to mete out
punishment like he has some revenge to take against the
left-armer. A unleashes the hook for his fifth six off the
innings, and takes a single two balls later to bring up his
fifty off just 22 deliveries. RCB are 68/0 after the powerplay.
Overs 3 & 4 : Gayle continues his onslaught. He slams
Sandeep Sharma for another six, already his third of the
game. He was fortunate to survive a drop chance off the
next delivery as Bailey put down a tough chance running
back towards long-off and the ball ran away for a boundary.
Two balls later, he whacked another six at long-on, and
wrapped up the over with a stunning straight drive past mid-
on for four. RCB had plundered 45 off the first three overs,
and Gayle had score 42 off those.
Johnson must be relieved to bowl at Virat Kohli. You can
only get such a sentence when Chris Gayle is batting at the
other end. The Australian bowls four straight dot balls to the
RCB captain, but Kohli proves he can be devastating, too, as
he smashed the bowler inside-out over covers for four. He
got two more off the last delivery as RCB ended over
number four with 51 runs on the board.
Overs 1 & 2 : Sandeep Sharma to start off proceedings
against Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. And the bowler wins the
initial battle as he beats Gayle defensive prod on two
occasions. Gayle gets off the mark off the penultimate
delivery. Just one run off the first over.
If he showed any vulnerability in the first over, they seemed
to have disappeared in the next. Mitchell Johnson is
welcomed into the attack a boundary past mid-off. He
followed that up with two humungous sixes and another
boundary. 20 runs off the over. RCB - 21/0.
Toss and Teams : Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected
to field first. George Bailey talks up the 'Punjabi Spirit', and
announces that Manan Vohra comes in for Virender
Sehwag. RCB, on the other hand, welcome back Chris Gayle
and Sreenath Aravind back into the side.
Kohli: 'The wicket looks good. It doesn't matter now, we got
to do whatever we are asked to do. KXIP are going to play
for a win, we would like to overcome that. We want to get it
all together. Chris Gayle is back in the side and Sreenath
Aravind comes in place of Iqbal Abdullah.'
Bailey: 'We are going to have a bowl. It looks like a good
surface. The practice wickets were very good. We talked
about the Punjabi spirit. We need to get some respect back.
Manan Vohra comes back in for Virender Sehwag. We have
started with our travel patch. We don't want to chase
anything over 250, that's for sure.'
Build Up :
Kings XI Punjab are at a crossroads in their 2015 IPL
campaign and after enduring seven defeats in their first nine
matches, only a miracle can turn things around for the
bottom-placed side. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore
on Wednesday, they would hope for better fortunes against
a side that has arrested its own slide to stay in contention
for a place in the Playoffs.
A hiccup against Chennai Super Kings snapped the healthy
momentum Royal Challengers Bangalore had gathered, but
their recent form is a sign of positivity. In the sapping heat
of Chennai, Royal Challengers Bangalore fluffed their
opportunity to chase down a modest total but back in the
familiar surroundings of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and
against a team that is on a four-game losing streak, Virat
Kohli's men would be confident of taking one step closer to
a last-four finish.
Subject to weather conditions - thunderstorms are forecast
for Wednesday evening - the stadium produces high-scoring
contests and this should be no different. The last game was
reduced to a 10-over contest but it didn't stop both sides
from scoring 100-plus totals with the team batting second
winning it.