END OF OVER:20 | 9 Runs 2 Wkts | PBKS: 185/7 (18 runs required, RR: 9.25)
- Mandeep Singh4 (4b)
- Murugan Ashwin1 (2b)
- Umesh Yadav4-0-36-3
- Navdeep Saini4-0-33-2
That closes things out for us. Thanks for your company. Good night (or better yet, pop over here to follow the Manchester derby!)
AB de Villiers is the Man of the Match for his ridiculously cool innings. He struck at a run-a ball for his first 25. Then, after that, he went at 300! "I really just try to stay calm. It's not easy. Game is happening quickly. But you have your team-mates around you to share the load [death-overs batting]. We know our home ground pretty well. It hasn't been a great hunting ground at the start but if we can keep going with this momentum, we'll do well. And you can see it, lots of smiles on the faces. I still thought the par score was 180. I actually felt it was 160 but it got better to bat in the second innings. So the boys bowled really well"
"Yeah, we've won four of the five. Could have been five out of five. We were just looking to enjoy the cricket and tonight was a great example of having fun. The game changing partnership was Marcus and AB. They brought us to 200 which looked highly unlikely. We thought 175 would have been good," Virat Kohli says. "The only focus was to play well as a team. Losing six in a row really hurt us. Literally no one in the team has been part of such a streak. So we just refreshed, thought about just enjoying ourselves and the important thing now is not to take on any pressure. We know how we play. The world knows how we play. [Extra spinners] Especially with the two left-handers they had. Moeen and Washi bowled really well and having six-seven bowling options really help. Also Marcus as the allrounder gives a lot of flexibility"
11.45 pm "There can be so many places where we feel we lost the game. But at the end of the day, a T20 game is all about pressure moments and we haven't been able to do that in the last few games," says R Ashwin. "If we had more experience in the middle order, we could have done something. We are right into it [playoffs] It's all about getting one win and we'll get on a roll. Like RCB. It's important to keep trust in the players. We've held on to the same batting order through the tournament. Giving players a chance. It's really important to back the players. We were always in the game. We haven't been outplayed by any opposition. The one area we need to work on is Powerplay bowling and the death others. It's time the bowlers stood up there"
Harish Prabakar: "I can understand how much this 2 points in important but such a disgusting gesture from Virat after taking Ashwin's catch in that final over. Come on dude is your mate still in your Indian colors." --- He took the catch to dismiss Ashwin, then seemed to knock something back behind him with it - almost like a bowler does when he runs out a non-striker backing up too far. I'll leave you guys to interpret that
Sunil: "@Harish - I believe Kohli was gesticulating to Umesh for not bowling in line with the stumps. " ---- I seriously doubt it. Ashwin too was perturbed by that reaction. Threw his gloves angrily down into the dugout floor
Devansh: "I don't know if winning such matches at near par scores will help them or not. RCB need to win with big margins in next few matches to fancy there chances of qualifying. Besides, what happens when siraj returns in and southee flies away. Steyn and moen are gone already."
"I think we have nothing to lose, " says Parthiv Patel. "Before the tournament started, we felt slightly unlucky, but now it's just about playing well and enjoying ourselves. I've been practicing hard .if I go fast, Kohli can take his time, that's it. Making sure we have four fielders in the circle. Just making sure the right fielders are at the right places and conveying the right length to bowl on a wicket [his role as wicketkeeper] Have quite a few tight wins now, a few of them didn't go our way earlier so happy now"
11.40pm This game ebbed and flowed outrageously, but in the end Royal Challengers have come out on top and secured a vital two points to keep their campaign alive. AB de Villiers had an awesome game, match-turning innings, pressure-riddled catches. His assault during the end-overs has turned out to be the game-clinger. 64 runs in the last three overs when RCB batted. Kings XI, meanwhile, only managed 18 runs in their last three overs, losing four wickets!
Kalyan : "Can someone please sit me down and tell me why AB is not playing the world cup? This is just astonishing."
Thomas: "Yes, there are still 3 games to go. Yes, this might jinx it. But RCB #WeBelieve"
SACHU: "Of all the 8 teams, only RCB have won their last 3 games. And they finally got off from the bottom of the points table"
GC Viljoen c †Patel b Yadav 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
R Ashwin c Kohli b Yadav 6 (2m 2b 0x4 1x6) SR: 300.00
Forecaster has written Kings XI off, just a 0.25% probability of winning now
END OF OVER:19 | 3 Runs 2 Wkts | PBKS: 176/5 (27 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 9.26, RRR: 27.00)
- Mandeep Singh2 (3b)
- Navdeep Saini4-0-33-2
- Umesh Yadav3-0-27-1
N Pooran c de Villiers b Saini 46 (40m 28b 1x4 5x6) SR: 164.28
Sarvan2020: "OMG another 10 ball 30 runs thriller "
Enter Mandeep Singh
DA Miller c de Villiers b Saini 24 (42m 25b 2x4 0x6) SR: 96.00
Two overs remain. Kings XI need 30.
END OF OVER:18 | 6 Runs | PBKS: 173/3 (30 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 9.61, RRR: 15.00)
- Nicholas Pooran45 (26b)
- David Miller24 (24b)
- Umesh Yadav3-0-27-1
- Tim Southee3-0-33-0
Forecaster has Kings XI winning at 24% at the end of 18 overs. It had been as high as 62% at 16.2.
Harsha : "The difference between 2 teams might not be AB and rather Ashwin"
Three overs to go, and in this see-sawing game Kings XI need 36 more - their position thanks almost entirely to Pooran's hitting. And Umesh Yadav is back into the attack
END OF OVER:17 | 11 Runs | PBKS: 167/3 (36 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 9.82, RRR: 12.00)
- David Miller21 (21b)
- Nicholas Pooran43 (23b)
- Tim Southee3-0-33-0
- Moeen Ali3-0-22-1