Key Baneya
- Kings XI Punjab lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 10 wickets in their final home game.
- Aaron Finch top scored for KXIP, making 26 of the 88 runs scored by the team.
- KXIP now have to win both their remaining games to ensure a place in the Playoffs.
Photo credit: BCCI/IPLT20.comKings XI Punjab suffered their third home loss on Monday as they went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 10 wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Monday. The Kings were bundled up for the lowest total at their Indore home venue as the Royal Challengers bowlers looked in peak form on the day. 🏏 SCORECARD
Batting first, the Kings XI Punjab batsmen took the attack to the bowlers right away after a slow Umesh Yadav over first up. They hit a flurry of fours and sixes to get their team off to a good start. But RCB soon took control of the game with wickets of Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle in quick succession; both scalps accounted for by the pace of Yadav. 📷 PHOTOS
| Turning Point |
| Lokesh Rahul has been the backbone of the KXIP batting order and his departure in an attempt to accelerate the scoring rate early led to a batting collapse which the Kings were unable to control. |
Karun Nair and Marcus Stoinis didn’t trouble the scorers too much either with the former getting caught in the slips off the third ball he faced and the latter getting done in by a slow drifter from Yuzvendra Chahal.
Brought in to strengthen the middle order, Aaron Finch was able to stop the batting order collapse for a while. He scored a cautious 26 before trying to attack Moeen Ali in his very first over and holing out to deep midwicket in the process.
| Sadda Sher |
| Aaron Finch showed some good intent in an attempt to hold the innings together after the top order fell quickly. He scored 26 runs which included 2 sixes and a four. |
Finch’s departure opened the floodgates as the lower order failed to contribute too many runs. Axar Patel stuck around for a while and picked up a few runs by knocking the ball around but wickets kept falling around him. The home team were eventually bundled up for 88 in just 15.1 overs.
| Unha-da Sher |
| After picking up both the KXIP openers, Umesh Yadav came back in his second spell to pick up a third wicket and finish with impressive figures of 4-0-23-3. |
RCB captain Virat Kohli chose to take the responsibility of opening the innings with Parthiv Patel as the team looked to chase down the low total. The duo took after the bowling right from the start, scoring 66 runs in the Powerplay overs to ensure an easy chase for their team.
RCB eventually cruised home with all 10 wickets in hand and 11.5 overs to spare, keeping their slim Playoffs hopes alive.
Key Chalda Hai?
Kings XI Punjab have two games in hand but this loss puts them in a rather precarious position as they need to win both their remaining games to ensure qualification to the Playoffs. Anything less will mean that it could come down to the Net Run Rate; a situation they will want to avoid. They face Mumbai Indians next at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, 16 May.
