Punjab’s lads beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match that swung way too many times. On Monday, KXIP scored 127 in reply to RCB’s 124, bagging the match by 5 wickets with 7 balls to spare
For Punjab, Pujara and Sehwag started off proceeding on a very conscious note, quickly taking the total to 22/0 in 4 overs. However, Pujara fell in the 5th over to Ashok Dinda for 10, with new man Saha falling to AAron in the very next over. KXIP scores now read 33/2 in 6 overs. Maxwell’s stay at the crease was too short as he departed an over later, dismissed by Aaron again for 6. Miller was the new man in, who took the side to 82/3 in 12 overs. However, Chahal’s twin strike claiming Miller 26(20) Sehwag 32(36) in the 13th over, set the pace for a closely contested match. Bailey 10(13), Dhawan 18(18) took the team home.
Earlier, KXIP won the toss and elected to bowl first. In a match that was more marked for the ‘return of the Gayle’, the storm lashed out at the Punjab side and how! Over 1, 20 runs in Bangalore’s kitty and all of them belonged to the big burly man from the Caribbean. The ecstasy however, chose to ditch RCB and take the KXIP side, when, in the second over, Sandeep Sharma handed his team a double bonanza: Gayle 20(7) Kohli 4(2). Parthiv Patel and Takawale were the two new men, but Takawale returned in the very next over itself for 0, this time, the success belonging to Mitchell Johnson. Parthiv Patel didn’t last long either, falling in the next over to Sandeep for 2. RCB’s scores read  26/4 in 4 overs.
De Villers and Yuvraj’s shoulders bore the responsibility of the fragile top order and the took their team to 66/4 in 9 overs. Soon enough, Rishi Dhawan brought in bad news for the batting side, dismissing de Villiers for 17 in the 10th over. Albie Morkel was the new man in and the duo took the team to 93/5 in 13 overs, when Morkel (15) and Yuvraj (35) fell back to back, to Balaji and Rishi Dhawan respectively. Starc and Aaron tried damage control, stretching the score to 120/7 in 19 overs, but Stac fell in the last one to Johnson, RCB managing 124/8 in their stipulated 20 overs.