Royal Challengers vs. Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2014: Highlights, Scorecard, Report

Kings XI Punjab enjoyed a dominant 32-run victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday, strengthening their position atop the 2014 Indian Premier League table.

Kings XI have now won seven of eight matches this season, collecting 14 points to stand two ahead of second-placed Chennai Super Kings.

For the Royal Challengers, the loss was their second of the week and makes for a season record of just three wins from eight matches.

Bangalore won the toss and decided to take the field at their home M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Virender Sehwag and Mandeep Singh soon made them question that decision, however, by steering Kings XI to 60 before Singh was dismissed by Harshal Patel.

Sehwag went soon after, but that brought South African David Miller to the crease. He would go on to score 66 from 29 balls—a brutal knock that included eight fours and three sixes.

Australian Glenn Maxwell weighed in with 25, with Wriddhiman Saha and Mitchell Johnson also playing their part as Kings XI closed on 198-8 from their 20 overs.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Virender Sehwag	c Virat Kohli b Yuzvendra Chahal	30	24	125.00	5	0
Mandeep Singh	c Albie Morkel b Harshal Patel	21	15	140.00	2	0
Glenn Maxwell	c Mitchell Starc b Yuzvendra Chahal	25	11	227.27	2	2
David Miller	c Yuzvendra Chahal b Varun Aaron	66	29	227.58	8	3
George Bailey	c Parthiv Patel b Albie Morkel	1	7	14.28	0	0
Wriddhiman Saha	c AB de Villiers b Harshal Patel	17	17	100.00	0	1
Mitchell Johnson	NOT OUT	16	12	133.33	1	1
Akshar Patel	b Mitchell Starc	2	3	66.66	0	0
Shivam Sharma	b Mitchell Starc	4	2	200.00	1	0
Lakshmipathy Balaji	NOT OUT	1	1	100.00	0	0
EXTRAS	(nb 2, w 11, lb 2)	15				15
BOWLER	O	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Mitchell Starc	4	43	2	10.75	9
Albie Morkel	4	20	1	5.00	12
Varun Aaron	4	35	1	8.75	8
Harshal Patel	3	56	2	18.66	3
Yuzvendra Chahal	4	23	2	5.75	7
Yuvraj Singh	1	19	0	19.00	1

Bangalore's reply was ravaged early on by the bowling of Sandeep Sharma, who took two wickets in two balls in the third over and left the Royal Challengers reeling at 26-3 after removing their top three batsmen.

AB de Villiers provided some much-needed resistance, scoring 53 from 26 balls to bring some respectability to the innings. 

But it was the Kings XI bowlers who were winning the battle, with Shivam Sharma finishing with figures of 2-26 from his four overs and Sandeep Sharma taking 3-25 from his.

Bangalore finished their 20 overs on 166-9 and with Varun Aaron unbeaten on 17. It was ultimately a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Chris Gayle	c Wriddhiman Saha b Sandeep Sharma	4	7	57.14	1	0
Parthiv Patel	c Mandeep Singh b Sandeep Sharma	13	14	92.85	3	0
Virat Kohli	c Wriddhiman Saha b Sandeep Sharma	0	1	0.00	0	0
Sachin Rana	b Akshar Patel	18	16	112.50	2	1
AB de Villiers	c Akshar Patel b Lakshmipathy Balaji	53	26	203.84	1	5
Yuvraj Singh	c Virender Sehwag b Shivam Sharma	3	11	27.27	0	0
Albie Morkel	c George Bailey b Shivam Sharma	16	8	200.00	0	2
Mitchell Starc	c David Miller b Lakshmipathy Balaji	29	23	126.08	4	0
Harshal Patel	c Wriddhiman Saha b Mitchell Johnson	6	3	200.00	1	0
Varun Aaron	NOT OUT	17	11	154.54	1	1
Yuzvendra Chahal	NOT OUT	1	1	100.00	0	0
EXTRAS	(nb 1, w 4, lb 1)	6				6
BOWLER	O	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Sandeep Sharma	4	25	3	6.25	15
Mitchell Johnson	4	25	1	6.25	12
Lakshmipathy Balaji	3	43	2	14.33	6
Akshar Patel	4	22	1	5.50	7
Shivam Sharma	4	26	2	6.50	12
Glenn Maxwell	1	24	0	24.00	0

Next up for the Royal Challengers are Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Kings XI are also in action on Sunday, taking on Kolkata Knight Riders.