Bangalore: Kings XI Punjab breached the fortress of Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium as they won the match by seven wickets here on Tuesday. Adam Gilchrist and Azhar Mahmood played heroic knocks of 85 and 61 runs which helped them to chase down the target of 175 in just 18.1 overs.
Earlier it was some brilliant batting of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli as they scored 77 and 57 runs respectively to take RCB to a comfortable total of 174 in their 20 overs.
Kings XI Punjab had a terrible start as they lost the wicket of Shaun Marsh quite early in the chase. But Adam Gilchrist and Azhar Mahmood added 118 runs for the second wicket which changed the complexion of the match.
Mahmood departed after scoring 61 runs off 41 balls which were decorated with eight fours and one six. David Miller soon followed him to the dug-out as he got bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan. Gilchrist remained not out after smacking 85 runs off 54 balls, including 10 fours and three six. He was awarded the man-of-the-match for his brilliant performance which took Kings XI Punjab to a much-needed win.
Earlier in the match, it was some brilliant bating from the duo of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli that setup the match beautifully for RCB. They added 136 runs for the third-wicket partnership. They kept dealing in boundaries till the penultimate over of the game. Kohli complimented Gayle well as he went onto score 77 runs off 53 balls.
Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers were removed in the penultimate over as Parwinder Awana struck twice and also Mahmood picked up a couple of wickets in the 20th over which helped him get to rid of Rahul and Kohli as they departed after scoring eight and 57 runs respectively. They ended up scoring 174 runs in their 20 overs.