INDORE:AB de Villiers sizzled on his entry into IPL 10 but in the end it proved to be in vain for Royal Challengers Bangalore as Kings XI Punjab chased down the target of 149 without breaking too much of a sweat at the Holkar Stadium here on Monday. The win makes it two from two for Punjab.
After scoring only 71 from their first 15 overs, RCB put on 77 in the last five — the bulk of which came from De Villiers’ bat (89 from 46 balls). The rest of the RCB batting line-up failed to live up to their billing ultimately made it a second loss in three matches this season.
Captain Glen Maxwell who took KXIP home in their opening game, was up to the task this time again with an unbeaten 43 from 22 as he took the hosts past the line with a six. It was South African opener Hashim Amla who played a sensible 58-run knock from 38 balls that laid the platform for KXIP as they achieved victory with 33 balls to spare.
Earlier, De Villiers had anchored a faltering RCB innings and almost single-handedly took the visitors’ score to 148. His magnificent knock included nine sixes, of which seven came in the final four overs. However, on a small ground like Indore, defending such a low total was always going to prove difficult.
The capacity crowd cheered when they saw De Villiers’ name on the giant screen and they were in for a treat as AB unleashed some savage hitting against Punjab bowlers in the dying overs. Shaking off a back injury, De Villiers returned to the team at the expense of Chris Gayle, who had failed to fire in the first opening two games.
Maxwell opened the bowling with spin and Axar Patel delivered as he took the wicket of Shane Watson in the very first over. Vishnu Vinod and in-form Kedar Jadhav soon joined their captain back in the hut as KXIP seamers Sandeep Sharma and Varun Aaron struck.
De Villiers chose to play the cautious game as he and Mandeep Singh took RCB past the 50-mark in the 10th over without further damages. The South African hit Marcus Stoinis for two sixes in the 17th over — in the process bringing up his 50 from 34 balls — as RCB finally decided to step up the scoring.
Mohit Sharma bowled the 18th over and he went for 19 as Stuart Binny also joined in on the fun. But he was merely a spectator as De Villiers ran the show with panache. However, a disciplined bowling effort in the initial stages from Kings XI again proved to be the difference between the two sides on the day.
adwaidh@newindianexpress.com