Murali Vijay's captain knock went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore snatched a nerve-wracking one-run win victory over Kings XI Punjab in an enthralling Indian Premier League encounter, in Mohali, on Monday.
- Scorecard
Chasing a target of 176, KXIP looked on course for victory with Vijay smashing 89 off 57 balls but Chris Jordan managed to hold his nerves as he gave away 15 runs in the final over with the hosts needing 17 for a victory.
Shane Watson produced a superb spell with the ball, to claim for two for 22 in his four overs as Punjab finished on 174 for four in reply to Bangalore's 175 for six.
Needing four runs for victory off the last delivery, Marcus Stoinis, who played a good innings of 34 from 22 balls, could manage only two runs to deep midwicket as RCB captain Kohli heaved a sigh of relief.
The win saw RCB climb a place to sixth position with eight points from nine games to stay in contention for a place in the play-offs, while Punjab with six points from 10 games face a tough task as far as their chances of progressing are concerned.
Punjab were firmly in the contest, needing 40 runs from the last four overs with Vijay looking in great touch before tragedy struck. It was old warhorse Watson, who claimed the key wicket of Vijay as he had him caught at deep square leg.
Hashim Amla (21) and Vijay started on a positive note with the Punjab skipper finding gaps with ease and hitting boundaries at regular intervals. They added 45 runs for the opening wicket before Amla tried to pull Watson but was caught by Stuart Binny at midwicket on the edge of the circle.
Vijay hit some great shots including a lovely cut shot off Watson, a straight drive past mid-on off Binny and a pull off Jordan's short ball for boundaries.
Leg spinner Chahal, who claimed one for 30, dismissed Wriddhiman Saha and the out-of-form David Miller (0) with successive deliveries to turn the tide in RCB's favour.
From 88 for one at one stage, Punjab were reduced to 88 for three before Vijay tried to take charge as he hit Jordan for a couple of boundaries. In the next over, Vijay launched into left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah for two more fours as he kept the scoreboard moving at a good rate in the middle overs.
But his dismissal in the 17th over badly dented Punjab's hopes. Stoinis's late assault kept Punjab in the contest but Jordan bowled three good deliveries at the end to give his team a much-needed victory.
Earlier, AB de Villiers blasted a stroke-filled 64 from 35 balls to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to an impressive 175 for six in their 20 overs after they were put into bat.
Skipper Virat Kohli, who has been fastest to reach 500 runs in an IPL season, suffered a rare failure and was out for 20. But it was the late assault from de Villiers which saw RCB gain momentum on a track which was getting slower with passage of time.
De Villiers' innings had five boundaries and two sixes as he cut loose after a steady start.
The sixes included a sweep shot and a pull over mid-wicket off pacer Sandeep Sharma while he also played another audacious sweep shot off Punjab's best bowler Mohit Sharma, hitting the pacer for a boundary over square leg. He also hit Mohit's slower ball back over his head for a boundary.
Once he reached his half-century off 30 balls, de Villiers' started hammering the bowlers with great disdain. In the 18th over bowled by a hapless military medium bowler Sandeep, he got a six and four before the bowler had him caught on the off-side
The South African found an able ally in Kerala left-hander Sachin Baby, who hit a steady 33 from 29 balls as the duo added 88 runs in 9.1 overs for the fourth wicket. RCB, who had made a good start, lost three wickets for four runs in the space of deliveries to be reduced to 67 for three, in the ninth over.
K L Rahul once again took charge at the start, smashing a quickfire 42 from 25 balls as he dominated the 63-run opening wicket stand with Kohli. Leg-break bowler K C Cariappa dismissed both the openers within the space of two deliveries to check RCB's good start.
Rahul after having hit six delightful boundaries and a six, was bowled round his legs trying to play a sweep shot. Two balls later, he had prized scalp of Kohli, who gave a simple catch to his opposite number Murali Vijay on the off-side.
Shane Watson (1) missed a slow half-tracker from Axar Patel and was bowled as Punjab turned things around in the space of a few deliveries.
But de Villiers held forte, and after a slow start, went after the Punjab bowlers to help his team finish with a strong total.
