IPL 9: Royal Challengers Bangalore escape to victory against Kings XI Punjab

MohaliMurali Vijays captain knock went invain as Royal Challengers Bangalore snatched a nervewracking1run win victory over Kings XI Punjab in an enthrallingIndian Premier League encounter here tonightChasing a target of 176 KXIP were cruising along withVijay smashing 89 off 57 balls but Chris Jordan managed tohold his nerves as he gave away 15 runs in the final over inwhich the home team needed 17 runs The final scorecard was174 for fourNeeding 4 off the last delivery Marcus Stoinis 34 22balls could take only two as Virat Kohli was delirious in joythe moment match finishedRoyal Challengers Bangalore Shane Watson C celebrates the wicket of Kings XI Punjab captain Murali Vijay R during their 2016 IPL match at The Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Monday PicAFPThe win takes RCB to sixth position with 8 points from 9games as they still have a chance of qualifying for playoffswhile KXIP with six points from 10 games look all but out ofthe tournamentThe last four overs saw KXIP requiring 40 runs with Vijaylooking in great touch before tragedy struck It was oldwarhorse Watson 222 who delivered the needful as he dug ina short one and Vijay went for the pull He could not connectit as Yuzvendra Chahal took a welljudged catch at deepmidwicket boundary He hit 12 boundaries and a six The matchjust slipped away despite Stoinis cameoHashim Amla 21 and Vijay started on a positive notewith the KXIP skipper finding gaps with ease They added 45runs before Amla tried to pull Watson as Stuart Binnystationed at the edge of the circle at midwicket timed hisjump to perfection to take a good catchVijay hit some great shots including a lovely back cutoff Watson an on drive off Binny and a pulled boundary ofChris JordanWhen Varun Aaron bowled a fast rising delievry Vijayused the pace to pull it behind square for a six Along withWriddhiman Saha 16 he added 43 runs as the pair ran wellbetween the wickets before trouble struckLeg spinner Chahal 230 dismissed Saha and anoutofform David Miller 0 with successive deliveriesstumped by KL RahulWhile Rahul fumbled a bit when Saha missed trying to giveChahal the charge he effected a far smoother stumping whenthe leggie slided one across Miller who tried playing adefensive prodFrom 88 for 1 KXIP were reduced to 88 for 3 when Vijaytried to take charge as he hit Jordan for a couple ofboundariesIn the next over Vijay launched into leftarm spinnerIqbal Abdullah for a couple of boundariesIn the next over it was Aarons turn to be sliced todeep point boundary while Chahal lost his length and was hit afor a couple of more boundariesEarlier South African runmachine AB de Villiers hit a cruciallytimed knock of 64 runs to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB to a healthy 1756 against Kings XI Punjab in a Indian Premier League IPL group phase match here on MondayDe Villiers was helped in his efforts by Sachin Baby 33 off 29 balls at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium Their fourthwicket partnership of 88 runs from 55 balls found the cornerstone of RCBs strong totalFor Punjab legbreak bowler KC Cariappa picked up two wickets at the top of the innings 216 to become their most successful bowlerRCB began strongly putting up 56 in the powerplay without losing a wicketOpeners KL Rahul 42 and Virat Kohli 20 batted with consummate ease mixing ones and twos with boundaries to score at a fast clipPunjab got a chance to break the momentum early in the third over when Kohli offered a chance after coming down the track to pacer Mohit SharmaKohli only managed to slice his attempt to backward point where Marcus Stoinis made a hash of the chanceRahul was the chief aggressor and added insult to Stoiniss injury by smashing three fours and a huge six of the Australian in the next overRCB were moving along nicely and looked like setting up a strong platform for a big score reaching 61 in seven oversBut the introduction of legbreak bowler KC Cariappa halted RCBs march He effected a double break in his very first over off the third and the fifth ball to account for Rahul and Kohli respectivelyRahuls slog sweep attempt resultedin him getting bowled while Kohli played away from his body to offer a catch at short cover Rahul smashed six boundaries and a six during his 25ball inningsPunjab completed a turnaround in the next over with leftarm spinner Axar Patel castling Australian Shane batsman Shane Watson 1 to reduce RCB to 673 in nine oversThe rhythm was snapped the runrate dropped and RCB needed all of de Villiers experience to pull them upDe Villers along with Baby guided the team past the 100run mark in the 14th overHe launched himself into some freehitting carting Sandeep Sharma for a four and a six in the 16th over Mohit Sharma also received some rough treatment as de Villiers brough up his halfcentury in 30 ballsDe Villiers customarily hit at least a boundary a six off three consecutive overs from the 15th over till his dismissal in the 18th to shoot up his team to 155De Villers 35ball knock contained five hits to the fence and two over it He ensured that the team reached a defendable totalEarlier Punjab captain Murali Vijay won the toss and chose to bowl against RCBPunjab made two changes to the side that beat Delhi Daredevils in their previous game South Africa allrounder Farhaan Behardien and seamer Anureet Singh were named in for Glenn Maxwell and Gurkeerat SinghBehardien made his IPL debut