Dubai: Kings XI Punjab continued their winning streak with a facile five-wicket victory to strengthen their position at the top of the heap as Royal Challengers Bangalore were left licking their wounds after yet another loss in the ongoing Indian Premier League, here today.
Chasing a modest 125, the Punjab outfit completed the task with seven balls to spare in a low-scoring game for their fifth straight win, at the Dubai International Stadium.
The KIXP bowlers set up the match with another disciplined performance, restricting the Bangalore side to 124
for eight.
Man of the Match Sandeep Sharma led with impressive figures of 3/15 while Rishi Dahwan (2/14) and Mitchell Johnson (2/19 ) chipped in with two wickets apiece. There was a wicket for Laxmypathi Balaji also.
When their turn to bat came, Virender Sehwag had raced to a 26-ball 32 with four boundaries before he was given out caught behind. Replays, though, suggested there was no outside edge. David Miller made 20 off 26 balls and hit as many fours as Sehwag.
After their famed batting line-up came a cropper, RCB bowlers tried to make a match of it by picking up a few wickets. That they got the wickets of Wriddhiman Saha and Glenn Maxwell, the man in red-hot form, were largely due to Mitchell Starc's brilliant catching in the deep.
Both Saha and Maxwell tried to target the area behind square but Starc had other ideas as he pulled off a couple of blinders off Varun Aaron's bowling.
Sehwag and Miller put on 45 runs for the fourth wicket, the match's biggest, to put the table-toppers on track. But young legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice in the 13th over to keep his side optimistic about breaking the run of defeats.
In the end however, the total did not prove to be enough for RCB as the in-form opposition secured full points after a bit of a wobble.
Skipper George Bailey remained not out on 16 while Dhawan, after a good outing with the ball, hit three crucial boundaries in his brisk unbeaten 23.
Needing 10 off 12 balls, Bailey guided a poor Aaron delivery towards fine-leg to take his side to brink of victory, before Dhawan completed the chase.
