Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, two bottom-placed teams in Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore are locking horns in Mohali today, aiming to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League.
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And that has to hurt Kings XI Punjab some way. Not only because they stay lodged at the bottom of the table, but because they were so close to pulling it off while Murali Vijay was tonking bowlers around, before that one defining over — yet again, from Shane Watson, who is making a habit of bowling the match-changing over — in which Murali Vijay lost his head and then, duly, his wicket. Marcus Stoinis, who had a 51-run partnership with the captain, held out the promise of getting there, but Chris Jordan stayed true to his reputation to close it out in the end. Spare a thought for Vijay (89 from 57), who lost out on a ton as well as a victory. Boy, how important was Glenn Maxwell's absence in the end?
Man of the Match Shane Watson practically says the secret to his bowling is that he is a batsman. Insightful.
In all the years, I only remember >@RCBTweets losing matches they should've easily won. Great to see the opposite finally >#KXIPvRCB
— Armchair Critic (@HextupleNelson) >May 9, 2016
KXIP 174/4 after 20 overs (M Stoinis 34 off 22 | F Behaardien 9 off 7 || Lose by 1 run)
Jordan to take charge of the death. Stoinis hoicks one low to Square-leg, that Chahal overbalances to save a boundary. 16 from 5 .
The next one is creamed, from outside leg-stump, through Cover for four . 12 from 4 .
Again, Stoinis steps out of his crease and slaps a length-ball for six over Long-off, and walks back to his crease nonchalantly chewing his gum, his chest bulging outwards, looking near enough as thumping his chest like King Kong. 6 from 3 .
Jordan switches things up, and bowls a slower delivery that floats along outside off. Stoinis tries to paddle it, then ramp it, and ends up missing it all ends up. Dot ball. 6 from 2 .
2 runs are taken as Stoinis carves it to Cover. 4 from 1 . And it comes down to the final delivery. Stoinis has done well to marshall the strike this entire over. Any takers for tied scores? Anyone?
Oh so disappointing for KXIP... Jordan has bowled a tough ball to get away, a low full-toss, that Stoinis can hammer to Mid-wicket for just two runs.
KXIP 159/4 after 19 overs (M Stoinis 20 off 17 | F Behaardien 8 off 6 || 17 from 6 balls)
Behaardien puts his entire body into this pull shot, but it's utterly mistimed. But it floats into no-man's land at Midwicket. And Stoinis has now skewered a wide ball to the Backward Point fence for four . Watson is still putting in these effort balls. He has bowled 55% of his deliveries today in the back-of-length region. Very well bowled over at this stage. Just 7 runs off it. Leaves 17 needed off the final over. Boy, how crucial was Vijay's wicket and how disastrous the rush of blood to his head at that crucial stage a couple overs ago.
KXIP 152/4 after 18 overs (M Stoinis 15 off 14 | F Behaardien 6 off 3 || 24 from 12 balls)
And Farhan Behaardien begins his IPL career with a sweetly-timed square-cut through to the Point boundary for four , helped by a misfield from Travis Head. Is this a fielding side led by Virat Panther Kohli? Stoinis now brings the 150 up with a scooped four through Fine-leg.
KXIP 139/4 after 17 overs (M Stoinis 8 off 11 | F Behaardien 0 off 0 || 37 from 18 balls)
Has Vijay no care for a century? He's playing wildly injudicious shots all of a sudden. Oh, wait. The RRR is still 10 an over. Lofts over Extra Cover but falls safe; then swipes at a short-and-wide one. And now, Vijay (89 from 57) has given it away! He takes Watson's bait to go for a pull that makes it only up to middle of Square-leg, where Chahal is waiting in readiness to take the catch.
KXIP 136/3 after 16 overs (M Stoinis 7 off 9 | M Vijay 87 off 53 || 40 from 24 balls)
Chahal loses this ball in the middle of the pitch, and Vijay pounces on it, pummelling it to the Fine-leg boundary for four . Now, he has switched his stance before Chahal even delivers, and yet gets a ball he can just heave/pull away for four behind square.
KXIP 123/3 after 15 overs (M Stoinis 5 off 7 | M Vijay 76 off 49 || 53 from 30 balls)
RCB is blowing hot and cold in the field. Almost effects a direct-hit that would have removed Vijay from the picture, and then Jordan knocks his sliced drive into the Point boundary for four . Kings XI are seeing the shore on the horizon now.
KXIP 114/3 after 14 overs (M Stoinis 4 off 6 | M Vijay 68 off 44 || 62 from 36 balls)
Oof. Vijay is like a Bond villain, murdering bowlers with a touch of class and grace. Steps out and caresses a lofted drive over the bowler's head for four. Oh, before that, he had edged one for four through Third-man, and after that he misses a slow drifter on his pads, but I didn't want to mention those in case they robbed the sheen of his general elegance.
SirJadeja: >#RCB Is Trying It's Best To Choke Again. 53 In 5 Overs, Can Murali Vijay Win It? >#KXIPvRCB>#IPL2016
— Vijay Bhaskar (@ghostlyrants) >May 9, 2016
KXIP 104/3 after 13 overs (M Stoinis 3 off 4 | M Vijay 60 off 40 || 72 from 42 balls)
11 runs off that over by Jordan. Helped the Required Run-rate a little. Vijay unleashed his wrists that over, caressing a lofted four over Mid-off and a whipped four through Square-leg.
KXIP 93/3 after 12 overs (M Stoinis 2 off 2 | M Vijay 50 off 36 || 83 from 48 balls)
And suddenly, Vijay and Marcus Stoinis — opening partners last game — are together at the crease. Vijay's fifty is now up, and his presence and impact is key for Punjab's fortunes.
KXIP 88/3 after 11 overs (M Stoinis 0 off 0 | M Vijay 47 off 32 || 88 from 54 balls)
Chahal into his third over. Oops, what has Saha (16 from 13) done here? Jumps out of his crease trying to work it away on the on-side, misses it completely, and KL Rahul almost makes a mess of it by getting the ball on the grill, but he somehow plucks the ball and shakes the bails off before Saha can drag his bat back in. And Rahul is in the action again next ball, and he's effected another stumping — this time more cleanly and confidently! David Miller is gone the very next ball trying to drive the wide-ish ball against the spin but missing.
KXIP 83/1 after 10 overs (W Saha 11 off 9 | M Vijay 45 off 30 || 93 from 60 balls)
Vijay is on one here. Steps out to Abdulla and slices a four over Extra Cover. This is turning out to be another sensible innings from the KXIP captain. And his ability to bring out the pressure-relieving shot at opportune moments is most handy.
KXIP 74/1 after 9 overs (W Saha 10 off 7 | M Vijay 37 off 27 || 102 from 66 balls)
Whoa. Has Vijay cracked his bat, there, with a swat that trickled to Mid-off? Looks at it gingerly. Alls seems alright as he pulls the next one, a short delivery, over Square-leg for six .
KXIP 65/1 after 8 overs (W Saha 9 off 6 | M Vijay 31 off 22 || 111 from 72 balls)
Iqbal Abdulla comes and bowls a quiet over of singles and twos. Ah yes. He was watching Axar Patel and K Cariappa bowl the previous innings, and is bowling back-of-the-length and straight. 8 well-run runs.
KXIP 57/1 after 7 overs (W Saha 7 off 4 | M Vijay 25 off 18 || 119 from 78 balls)
Varun Aaron huffs and puffs and... gets nudged for four through Third-man by Wriddhiman Saha. The rest of the over is decent, and KXIP make 7 runs worth headway in this chase.
KXIP 50/1 after 6 overs (W Saha 1 off 1 | M Vijay 24 off 15 || 126 from 84 balls)
Shane Watson is brought in. Amla plays the second ball uppishly towards Point... and oh oh. Amla (21 from 20) is gone, trying to muscle a short delivery over the Mid-wicket infield but finding Binny's jumping fingers. Vijay, the surgeon, brandishes his scalpel to cut the ball between Point and Gully for four to end the over and usher in the Strategic Timeout.
KXIP 43/0 after 5 overs (H Amla 18 off 17 | M Vijay 20 off 13 || 133 from 90 balls)
Chahal bowls a few tricky deliveries to Amla, but the tenacious batsman slashes the fifth ball away for four over Point and then survives a close run-out call off the last delivery. 7 runs.
KXIP 36/0 after 4 overs (H Amla 13 off 12 | M Vijay 20 off 12)
Binny is back from this end now. Vijay has a rush of blood to the head as he steps out and tries to carve it over the Cover boundary, but the ball manages only to clear the infield and plug into the ground. But Vijay comes good in the last ball, dragging it with power through Mid-wicket for a scorching four .
KXIP 25/0 after 3 overs (H Amla 11 off 10 | M Vijay 12 off 8)
Chris Jordan is into the attack from the other end. Has radar issues from the start. Vijay helps a short, wide ball over Point for four before Jordan chucks one way down leg-side. And then Vijay picks it up for a high four over the Mid-wicket infield. Jordan comes back with a great out-swinger that straightens from leg-stump and Vijay can only pat back to the bowler.
KXIP 12/0 after 2 overs (H Amla 9 off 8 | M Vijay 2 off 4)
Yuzvendra Chahal is into the attack early. Kohli looks to be seeking wickets. But Chahal needs to bowl similarly potent lines as what the Kings XI spinners did. Not stray down leg-side first ball and be flicked away for four . Chahal strays on leg-side a few more times before the over is up.
KXIP 5/0 after 1 over (H Amla 3 off 4 | M Vijay 2 off 2)
As anticipated, Hashim Amla comes out to open with Kings XI Punjab captain Murali Vijay. They will provide perfect foils for one another and should anchor the chase well, provided they can get through Stuart Binny's fiery opening burst.
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So, after a good opening partnership, in which Virat Kohli and KL Rahul notched up 63 runs at 9-an-over, the Kings XI Punjab spinners came into their own with unplayable lines. K Cariappa and Axar Patel stifled the scoring rate along with the crucial wickets and it wasn't until AB de Villiers, supported by Sachin Baby, displayed a tiny glimmer of his finishing finesse that Royal Challengers Bangalore gathered up what seems now like enough runs to defend on this wicket.
All eyes on Murali Vijay — also debutant Hashim Amla — as it will be interesting to see how they go about this chase. Will Yuzvendra Chahal and Iqbal Abdulla, the spinners in RCB's bowling line-up today, prove competent enough to exploit the slowness of the wicket?
Virat Kohli after seeing the scoreboard after 20 overs. >#IPL>#KXIPvRCB>pic.twitter.com/2Y0jkB2LbS
— Paresh Godhwani (@Paranormal_PG) >May 9, 2016
RCB 175/4 after 20 overs
Head lofts a full-toss yorker, but falls just short of Long-off. The reverse swing is proving hard to control here, as Sandeep too now errs on the wids side. This time, Head digs him out for a straight four . Is able to scamper back for two the next ball. But now Head (11 from 7) holes out with a slog to a beautiful backward-running catch by captain Vijay at Mid-off. Binny is in, but Baby (33 from 29) faces the final ball and can neither time it to the boundary, nor make it back for two.
RCB 163/4 after 19 overs (S Baby 32 off 28 | T Head 1 off 2)
Still reversing for Mohit here as Baby is still swinging wildly at everything and missing everything. Very good bowling, following the batsman's legs. Slips in a wide, although I through I heard pad-clipping; though it could've been bat scraping pitch. Head and Baby are unable to power the boundaries. They're really missing Sarfaraz Khan's effervescent hitting here. Another yorker-gone-wide, and a two, gets them 7 runs off the over.
RCB 155/4 after 18 overs (S Baby 27 off 23 | T Head 0 off 1)
Sandeep now bowling from around the wicket to angle it across the right-hander. But ABD is a man without inhibition. He gets a ball on his toes and he gets low to get under a yorker and slog sweep a six through Square-leg. And after forcing the bowler back to over-the-wicket, ABD carves an airy four through Extra Cover. What does Sandeep do now? He bowls an full delivery that swings in late, and de Villiers (64 from 35) can only scoop it to Cariappa at Short Third-man. Needless to say, that's a big wicket that could be the difference between 180 and 200-plus.
Yorkers won't necessarily work well vs >@ABdeVilliers17 . >#KXIPvRCB>#IPL
— HoldingWilleyCricket (@holdingwilley) >May 9, 2016
RCB 143/3 after 17 overs (S Baby 26 off 22 | AB de Villers 52 off 30)
Mohit getting the ball to reverse now, and it should be a challenge for the batsmen to accelerate at the death. Hard to play your shots when you're trying to ensure the safety of your toes. Baby is on all fours now, dragging not just his bat but himself into the crease to make the run like his life depended on it. De Villiers has now slapped it horizontally over the bowler's head for four . And the South-African gets to his fifty with a low whippy sweep for another four , this time through Square-leg.
RCB 129/3 after 16 overs (S Baby 25 off 21 | AB de Villers 40 off 26)
Baby is swinging hard more regularly now. To little avail. But de Villiers paddles Sandeep for a risky six . Risky not because he might be caught, but because he could have taken his head off with it. And he has slapped it through Extra Cover from outside leg-stump for four . A little twirl of the bat in the follow-through revealed how much of wrist he had put into it.
RCB 113/3 after 15 overs (S Baby 24 off 20 | AB de Villers 25 off 21)
Well, Axar wants to restrict my line? I'll just get down on my knees and power a horizontal-bat shot for four through Midwicket, thinks Baby. And does just that. Miller misfields at Midwicket off the last ball. That region is trouble for Kings XI. RCB need to target that lucrative Cow Corner in the final five overs if they are to get anywhere near 170/180.
RCB 102/3 after 14 overs (S Baby 15 off 16 | AB de Villers 23 off 19)
Baby taking a few chances now as the 100 comes up, but Cariappa's bowling is impenetrable.
Pic 1: Baby Sachin Pic 2: Sachin Baby >#KXIPvRCB>pic.twitter.com/YAHMb1gdsz
— TheGoanPatiala (@TheGoanPatiala) >May 9, 2016
RCB 95/3 after 13 overs (S Baby 10 off 12 | AB de Villers 21 off 17)
Stoinis is back, and AB breaks the shackles with a back-foot wallop/cut through Cover for four . 10 runs off it.
RCB 85/3 after 12 overs (S Baby 6 off 9 | AB de Villers 15 off 14)
Another six runs in singles. Cariappa is too slow, too straight, and too wobbly for the batsmen to do anything.
RCB 79/3 after 11 overs (S Baby 4 off 6 | AB de Villers 11 off 11)
Axar has found his mojo. And it lies between the stumps. Straight deliveries that spin only to straighten further. De Villiers moves to make room but the ball can find only an inside-edge onto his pads. Troublesome over. Pokes and nudges all that are possible at the moment.
RCB 73/3 after 10 overs (S Baby 3 off 5 | AB de Villers 6 off 6)
Anureet Singh gave away just 6 runs that over and no boundaries. The momentum seems be on the Kings XI side courtesy those three rapid wickets.
RCB 67/3 after 9 overs (S Baby 0 off 2 | AB de Villers 3 off 3)
And things are finally rolling for Kings XI. Another straight ball does the trick, as Axar breaks Watson's (1 from 3) stumps. Watson tried to pull that shortish delivery and played all over it as it kept slightly low.
RCB 64/2 after 8 overs (S Watson 0 off 1 | AB de Villers 1 off 1)
And Cariappa has broken through. Rahul (42 from 25) sweeps all over that straight faster one and is bowled. And a ball later, now Kohli (20 from 21) is gone, driving off-balance and uppishly into the captain's hands at Short Cover.
RCB 61/0 after seven overs (Virat Kohli 19 off 19 | K.L. Rahul 41 off 23)
Stoinis to continue. He's looking to take the pace off the deliveries — it's down a good 10 kmph than his lasts over's average. It's proving to be efffective — no boundaries and runs coming only in singles.
20 Runs In An Over. Time To Sing Rains Of Castamere For Stoinis Baratheon. ;) >#KXIPvRCB>#IPL2016
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) >May 9, 2016
RCB 56/0 after six overs (Virat Kohli 16 off 15 | K.L. Rahul 39 off 21)
Axar into the attack and Rahul goes after him straightaway. He steps down and lofts it over the mid on fielder for a boundary. They're also making the fielders work hard, picking twos with ease when the ball crosses the inner ring. Seven off this one.
RCB 49/0 after five overs (Virat Kohli 14 off 12 | K.L. Rahul 34 off 18)
Anureet to continue from the other end. He's bowling it straight and bowling in the early 130s. A much better over for the hosts -- only 5 off this one.
RCB 44/0 after four overs (Virat Kohli 13 off 10 | K.L. Rahul 30 off 14)
Now, Stoinis replaces Anureet. Short and on the hips — all Rahul has to do is get it fine enough to escape the fielder at short fine leg. He follows that with a short ball and Rahul pulls it in front of mid wicket for a four. Now, he's getting adventurous — steps down, makes room and times it superbly for a six over the cover region. He's toying with bowler now — a late cut for a four. Rahul's taken the innings to the next level.
Very few people actually acknowledging KL Rahul's contributn Yes Virat has overshadowed him but Rahul has earned some reputation >#KXIPvRCB
— Ankit Mishra (@editedidea) >May 9, 2016
RCB 23/0 after three overs (Virat Kohli 11 off 9 | K.L. Rahul 11 off 9)
Just one over for Sandeep. He'll be replaced by Mohit. Short and wide and Rahul's manages to get a thick edge one that. That has enough power to take it to the point boundary. Another boundary that's come off an uncontrolled shot — Kohli hits one on the up and that jsut manages to evade the point fielder. Lucky boundary, this.
RCB 13/0 after two overs (Virat Kohli 7 off 7 | K.L. Rahul 6 off 5)
Anureet to bowl the second. He's bowling in the mid-120s — straight and on the stumps. A quiet one — only 4 off this.
RCB 9/0 after one over (Virat Kohli 5 off 4 | K.L. Rahul 4 off 2)
Sandeep's getting the ball to swing into the batsmen. Next one doesn't swing, and Kohli smashes that one through the covers — a four. There's a lot of swing on offer but he has to pitch it up to the batsmen. Wow! This time's it's off Rahul's bat. He leans into that one and creams it for a boundary. Super start. this — nice off tkhe first one.
Kings XI captain Murali Vijay wins the toss and the hosts will bowl first . They've made two changes: Glenn Maxwell and Gurkeerat Singh have to sit out today and their places will be taken by South African all-rounder Farhan Behaardien and Anureet Singh. For RCB, Iqbal Abdullah replaces Parvez Rasool.
