Maxwell and De Villiers star in RCB’S 3rd win, DC thrash PBKS
Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers hit whirlwind half-centuries to set up a third successive win for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as they thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 38 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.
In the second match of the day, Shikhar Dhawan’s quickfire 92 and a cameo by Marcus Stoinis guided Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings in Mumbai.
Maxwell (78) and De Villiers (76 not out) powered Bangalore to 204-4 and Virat Kohli’s team then restricted Kolkata, led by Eoin Morgan, to 166-8 in Chennai.
Bangalore, who are searching for their maiden IPL title, reclaimed top spot in the Twenty20 tournament.
“Well, I said at the halfway mark we have 200 because of two genius innings back-toback,” said Kohli.
“Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today. We’re not geting ahead of ourselves and not geting over-excited.”
Maxwell, who was bought by Bangalore for $1.95m in February’s auction, hit his second straight fity to make his team recover from 9-2 including Kohli out for five in the second over.
The Australian batsman put on 86 for the third wicket with Devdut Padikkal as he took the atack to the opposition bowlers.
He also stood strong with de Villiers before falling to fast bowler Pat Cummins as he hit nine fours and three sixes in his 49-ball knock.
De Villiers, the South African veteran and RCB’S best player, who has been with Bangalore since the 2012 season, hit the ball to all parts of the ground in his 34-ball blitz.
He hit three fours and a six off the last over from Andre Russell as Bangalore finished with a flourish ater Kohli elected to bat first.
“I did play well and had a lot of fun. Maxi made it easier,” said man of the match De Villiers.
“It wasn’t a 200-wicket, maybe 170 was about par today. The most important thing is I’m enjoying myself and my cricket - my family is here.”
Two-time IPL winners Kolkata were never in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Morgan hit 29 and Russell made 31 off 20 balls.
New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson took three wickets while fellow quick Harshal Patel and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed two each.
DHAWAN SHINES IN DC WIN: Dhawan’s 92 off 49 balls and Stoinis’s finishing act helped
Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) with 10 balls to spare despite having to chase a target of 196 at the Wankhede Stadium.
PBKS scored 195/4 but DC ended up scoring 198/4 in just 18.2 overs.
Dhawan wasted no time in going ater the PBKS bowlers and set up strong partnerships with fellow opener Prithvi Shaw, Steve Smith and captain Rishabh Pant.
He scored a majority of the runs in all the partnerships and looked set to reach his third IPL century comfortably.
He hit three consecutive fours in the 14th over but was dismissed in the 15th, which started with Pant hiting a six off Jhye Richardson’s second ball.
A slow delivery did the trick for the Australian as he split Dhawan’s middle and off stump.
Stoinis then took over the chase, hiting two fours and a six in the 17th over bowled by Mohammed Shami, who by the end of it seemed to have lost his line and length.
The over produced 20 runs and Shami ended his spell having given away as many as 53 runs with no wickets to show.
While Pant was dismissed by Richardson off the first ball of the very next over, it was too litle too late for PBKS as Stoinis finished the match with a four in the 19th over.
Earlier, an explosive 122-run opening partnership between KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal helped PBKS make 195/4.