Kings XI Punjab defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by a huge marginof 97 runs riding on a record ton from the bat of skipper KL Rahul.
Bangalore won the toss and invited Punjab to bat first at Dubai as Punjab finished on 206/3 with KL Rahul top scoring with 132 runs. Rahul faced 69 balls and scored 14 fours and 7 sixes. This is Rahul’s second century in IPL career, highest score by an Indian in IPL and fourth highest overall.
RCB captain Virat Kohli dropped Rahul in 17th and 18th over which the later utilized to perfection. KL and Karun Nair added 78 runs from last 28 balls. Nair remained unbeaten on 15 runs off 8 balls. Last two overs produced 49 runs for Punjab. RCB bowlers struggled big time as Dale Steyn gave away 57 runs from 4 overs with an economy of over 14. Umesh Yadav gave away 35 runs from 3 overs whie Shivam Dube had an economy of 11 from his 3 overs and picked up 2 wickets.
Bangalore in reply started poorly. They lost Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe and Virat Kohli with just 3 runs on the board. Aaron Fiinch (20), AB de Villiers (28) and Washington Sundar (30) tried to consolidate the innings but that contribution was never going to be enought to overcome the mamooth total posted by Punjab. Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin picked up 3 wickets each while Sheldon Cottrell bagged 2 wickets as RCB were bowled out for mere 109 runs from 17 overs.
Match Summary :
Kings XI Punjab 206 for 3 (Rahul 132) beat
Royal Challengers Bangalore 109 (M Ashwin 3-21, Bishnoi 3-32)
by 97 runs