BY SACNILK

Jasprit Bumrah again proved why he is one of the best death bowlers in the world as his 3 for 15 overshadowed KL Rahul's 94 off 60 balls and Andrew Tye's 4 for 16 to sealed a thrilling 3-run win against Kings XI Punjab to stay alive in this competition at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday (May 16). Mumbai Indians, after this win move up to number 4 in points table.## Tye ruined MI's flying start## It was Kings XI Punjab, who had won the toss and put Mumbai Indians to bat first. MI got off to flying start as Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan's early assault against Mohit Sharma and Ankit Rajpoot gave MI a solid start before Andrew Tye put them on to back foot. He was introduced in fourth over and dismissed Evin Lewis on the very first ball. After that he dismissed both Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in back to back balls in his second over and reduced MI from 37 for no loss to 59 for 3.## He added one more wicket to his name as he got Hardik Pandya later in the innings and finished his spell with an impressive figure of 4-0-16-4, where other bowlers were struggling to get wickets.## Pollard came to rescue MI## Kieron Pollard, who had been dropped in last few matches, brought back for the must-win game in place of JP Duminy. When he came out to bat, Mumbai Indians were struggling on 71 for 4 after 8.2 overs. He began slowly but once he got set, he went after Ankit Rajpoot, smashing him for a six and two boundaries before taking Stoinis in next over for 3 consecutive boundaries. He reached to his fifty off just 22-balls and added 65-runs off 36 balls with Krunal Pandya for the fifth wicket.## He dismissed right after his fifty but all of Tye's good work was undone by that time. Krunal Pandya scored 32 runs and crucial runs from the lower order helped MI to finished with 186 for 8 after 20 overs.## Openers provided solid start before Rahul and Finch set up the innings## To chased down 187, Kings XI Punjab were hoping a good solid start from the openers knowing that their middle order wasn't in good form. Charis Gayle and KL Rahul who arguably been the best openers in this tournament. However, Gayle after scoring 18 off 11 balls but got out to Mitchell McClenaghan. He added 34 for the first wicket with KL Rahul. Gayle's wicket brought Aaron Finch at the crease and he played sensible along with Rahul. By the end of powerplay, KXIP scored 57 for 1.## The real platform for KXIP's chase was set by the Finch and Rahul. However, Finch struggled initially to middling the ball but once he got set, played some excellent shots. On the other hand, Rahul who has been in form of his life was going nicely. Both the batsmen took on MI's weakest bowlers Krunal and Hardik in the middle overs. The duo put on 111-run stand off 74 balls for the second wicket before Finch got out to Bumrah after scoring 46 runs.## MI, led by Bumrah finish it off in style## When Finch got out, KXIP still needed 42 off 23 balls and it wasn't looking difficult for Punjab knowing Rahul at the other end. However, Bumrah conceded only 4 runs in 17th over and got Finch and Marcus Stoinis five balls.## Rahul, who was going nicely brought back KXIP with 3 consecutive boundaries to Ben Cutting in 18th overs. With 23 needed off 12 balls, the game came down to Rahul vs Bumrah and in this Bumrah won the race. He came with his variation and had mistimed Rahul over the in-field straight to Hardik in the deep. He gave away only 6-runs in that over. With 17 required in last over, KXIP could manage only 13 runs and lost the match by 3-runs.## KXIP's strategy of sending Axer Patel ahead of Yuvraj Singh and Manoj Tiwary backfired them as Patel could score only 10 off 8 balls.## Jusprit Bumrah awarded Man Of The Match for his match-winning spell while KL Rahul received Orange Cap (leading run-getter) with 652 runs in 13 innings. Andrew Tye has Purple Cap (leading wicket-taker) with 24 wickets in 13 matches.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.

BY SACNILK

It was one of those days when Royal Challengers Bangalore showed what they are capable of doing. Their biggest worry turned out to be their strength in a match against Kings XI Punjab when they bowled out Punjab on the lowest total of the season. On such day, a batting heavyweight KXIP bundled out on 88. And it took only 8.1 overs for RCB to chased down the target with all the wickets in hand. Punjab's performance with the bat also saw how much they rely on KL Rahul and Chris Gayle. More than 30% runs were being scored by Gayle and Rahul in this IPL.## When Gayle and Rahul walked out in the middle, a sense of nostalgia would have hit Royal Challengers Bangalore and their countless fans. One year ago, these two used to play for the RCB (although Rahul missed out the entire season due to injury) up the batting order and then followed by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers at number 3 and 4. However, the situation was not same as RCB finished in the last position, their worst season ever. Injuries also hurt their cause badly as Kohli and de Villiers missed out a few matches. Although, both batting and bowling were the equal responsibility for their poor display in last season.## In this IPL, they improved their performance but still are struggling to make it to the playoffs. Their bowling has been very poor throughout the season despite their dominating display in the previous match against KXIP. Perhaps a bit too late but nonetheless, RCB will take it considering what their performance have been so far.## Well, it was the day when RCB came out with all guns fired and gave KXIP a shock after bowled them out on 88. Umesh Yadav, who has been arguably the best bowler of this season, again was impressed with the new ball. He sent back both the openers inside first five overs. After that, it was the matter of time before Punjab bowled out in 15.1 overs.## Chasing 89 was never going to bother RCB in any way. Perhaps it was the best chance for them to boost their Net Run-Rate along with two important points. RCB grabbed this opportunity and chased down the target in 8.1 overs with 10-wickets in hand.## Although, it is not going to easy for them to qualify for the playoffs as two teams already qualified and four teams are ahead of them in the points table. Both RCB and MI have 10 points each but MI is the bit ahead in NRR. Now, the win is the only way for RCB to stay in this tournament and give themselves a chance.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.

BY SACNILK

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kings XI Punjab by 10-wickets after their dominating performance at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Monday (May 14). Led by Umesh Yadav's 3 for 23, RCB bowled out KXIP on a modest total of 88 in 15.1 overs, before they made this chase a Cakewalk and chased down the target in just 8.1 overs and provided RCB an all-important win to get two crucial points and boost their net run-rate.## How crucial was toss and how Punjab respond## Win the toss and opted bowl first. It has been the tendency of this season and Virat Kohli didn't change it. However, it was a challenge for the batting heavyweight KXIP to put on a challenging total. KL Rahul shone his intent from the second over with a six to Tim Southee and followed it up with another one to Umesh Yadav in next over. Chris Gayle took on Southee for 3 fours in the fourth over. Both Rahul and Gayle put 36 runs off 27 balls and gave Punjab a good start.## Then how did they bowled out on 88## After putting 36 for the opening stand, Rahul was the first batsman to be dismissed. He scored 21 off 15 balls with three maximums. After that, it was just matter of time to bowled out on 88. After Rahul's wicket, Gayle also followed him in the same over before scoring 18 off 14 balls. Karun Nair and Marcus Stoinis also fell cheaply in back to back overs. After reducing 50 for 4, Aaron Finch did fight for a while but got out to Moeen Ali after scoring 26 off 23 balls. However, after that none of the batsmen couldn't do much and bowled out on just 88 in 15.1 overs.## How good were RCB with ball## Outstanding. It was perhaps best bowling display by RCB in this IPL. Led by Yadav, who dismissed both the openers inside first 6 overs. Umesh Yadav finished his spell with 3 for 23. Moeen Ali and Chahal were brilliant with spin bowling and didn't allow batsmen to open their arms. Chahal bowled only two overs and conceded only 6 runs and picked a wicket. While Ali finished with 13 for 1 in 2.1 overs.## Kohli-Parthiv finished in style## 89 was never going to trouble RCB. It was a matter of how quickly RCB get those runs. It took only 8.1 overs to get those runs as RCB chased down the target with 10-wickets in hand. Virat Kohli scored 48* off 28 balls including 6 fours and 2 sixes. While Patel remained unbeaten on 40 off 22 balls with the help of 7 fours.## Umesh Yadav awarded Man Of The Match for his brilliant spell of fast bowling. And moved up to the 3rd number in the highest wicket-takers list with 17-wickets in 12 matches.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.