AB de Villiers' 82* keeps RCB's playoff hopes alive
A target of 203 proved beyond Kings XI's reach despite aggressive knocks from KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran
A target of 203 proved beyond Kings XI's reach despite aggressive knocks from KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Alagappan Muthu
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
When asked what was going on, Ashwin's response was: "I just play with passion, so does he"
The RCB bowlers adopted an approach far more disciplined than Kings XI's. The result: the winning team conceded 18 runs off the last three overs while Kings XI leaked 64
Dipping into his bag of variations, the Kings XI Punjab captain didn't concede a single boundary in his four overs
A target of 203 proved beyond Kings XI's reach despite aggressive knocks from KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran
Kings XI, who have a number of former RCB players in their roster, will also be looking to put their up-and-down campaign back on track