IPL: Punjab Win A Tight Match Against Bangalore

Kings XI Punjab overcame a major brain-fade at the end of the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore to win with just one ball to spare. The match seemed to have been done and dusted with, until Punjab shot themselves in the foot not once, not twice, but thrice. Piyush Chawla though kept his head when everyone around was losing theirs, and took his team to a much deserved win.

RCB after batting first looked well on their way to a mammoth total during the 100+ partnership between Gayle and Kohli. Gayle once again scored big, with 71 off 42 balls, while Kohli showed semblance of return to form with a measured innings of 45. Their dismissal however derailed the innings, as the rest of the batsmen came in-wasted balls and got dismissed, on a belter of a wicket. Azhar Mehmood once again did the star turn for Punjab with bowling figures of 3 wickets for 20 runs in his quota of overs. Praveen Kumar gave away just eight runs in his four overs to produce the most economical figures in this edition of the tournament.

The final score of 158 runs looked below par, and the early wicket of Shaun Marsh notwithstanding , Kings XI had the match by the scruff of their neck. First Mandeep Singh impressed with his shot making in his innings of 43, and thereafter Saini and Hussey put the bowling to the sword. The latter made his first IPL half century. With 13 needed in 4 overs with 8 wickets in hand no one could have dreamt of what followed. Saini threw away his wicket in an over in which McDonald gave away just one run. Vettori’s over brought just five runs and the important run out of Azhar Mehmood. With 7 required off 2 overs the win should still have been a formality for Punjab, but David Hussey panicked unnecessarily. His run out was followed by that of Abhishek Nayar, as Zaheer gave away just two runs in the penultimate over. Vinay Kumar bowled two dot balls to start the final over, and with 5 needed of 4 , the game was slipping away from Punjab. With two needed off two balls, Piyush Chawla came on strike, and smashed the ball into the stands to spark wild celebrations.

The self destruction at the end notwithstanding, Kings XI were the deserved winners, and have now made the points table even more congested.