Indore: Royal Challengers Bangalore produced a dominating performance to outclass Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets and stay afloat in the Indian Premier League here.


After bundling out Kings XI for paltry 88, RCB chased down the target with consummate ease, reaching 92 for no loss in 8.1 overs.


Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with the bat with an unbeaten 48 while Parthiv Patel made unbeaten 40 to help RCB romp home.   


Kohli struck six fours and two towering sixes during his 28-ball unbeaten knock, while Parthiv's innings was laced with seven boundaries.


While Kings XI slumped to their third successive loss, RCB improved upon their net run rate by sealing the victory in 8.1 overs.


RCB now have 10 points from 12 games, same as Kings XI with two games remaining for the both teams.


Kings XI Punjab innings


Kings XI Punjab wilted under pressure as a spirited Royal Challengers Bangalore bundled them out for paltry 88 in a must-win Indian Premier League match.


Sent into bat, Kings XI innings never got going as they lost wickets like pack of cards from the onset to be bowled out in 15.1 overs.


Backed by some good fielding, Umesh Yadav (3/23) came up with an impressive bowling effort up front to destabilise the Kings XI innings.


Besides, Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal (1/6), Colin de Grandhomme (1/8), Moeen Ali (1/13) and Mohammed Siraj (1/17) picked up a wicket each.






Aaron Finch top-scored for Kings XI with a 23-ball 26 while KL Rahul made 21 up the order.   


RCB bowlers were very well complemented by some good outfield catching and three runs outs.


Kings XI witnessed a terrible start to their innings after being sent into bat as they lost four wickets with the scoreboard reading just 50 in 6.5 overs.


Rahul gave Kings XI a brisk start with a 15-ball 21 in the company of Chris Gayle (18) before Yadav struck twin blows in the fifth over, dismissing both the openers.


While Rahul pulled one straight to de Grandhomme a deep square leg, Gayle departed in similar fashion caught by Siraj off another short delivery three balls later.


To make matters worse for Kings XI, Karun Nair edged a delivery straight to RCB skipper Virat Kohli at the lone slip in the next over.


Wickets kept on tumbling for Kings XI as Marcus Stoinis and Mayank Agarwal too perished when their team needed them the most.


While Stoinis was cleaned up by Chahal, Agarwal got a faint edge to a de Grandhomme delivery in the leg side and Parthiv Patel did the rest behind the stumps.


From there on, Kings XI never really recovered and were eventually bundled out for the second lowest total of this years IPL, courtesy some brilliant work at the field by RCB fielders.


Toss


Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to bowl first against Kings XI Punjab at the Holkar stadium in Indore.


Kings XI Punjab have received a massive blow with Mujeeb Ur Rehman ruled out after suffering an injury to his wrist in the previous match. Marcus Stoinis has come in as a replacement.


While the visitors have opted to field the same team that emerged victorious in the last game as Delhi Daredevils.


Teams


KXIP playing XI: Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Mohit Sharma.


RCB playing XI: Parthiv Patel(w), Moeen Ali, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal


Preview


Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter on Monday.


RCB got some breathing space after their five-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils while Kings XI Punjab, after a brilliant run at the initial stages, are currently struggling with back to back defeats.


Despite losses to Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, KXIP are in the top half of the league with 12 points while RCB are still languishing at the second last place in the table.


However in IPL, strange things have happened at the business end of the tournament and RCB, under Virat Kohli, are likely to put a lot of pressure on the slipping KXIP.


While Kohli and AB de Villiers anchored an easy chase against Daredevils with stylish half-centuries, KXIP bowlers were under the pump, being taken to cleaners by Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik as KKR scored a mammoth 245 in the last game.


Both the teams are overtly dependant on their batting with Kohli and De Villiers holding forte for the RCB while Preity Zinta co-owned outfit looks up to KL Rahul (537 runs) and Chris Gayle (332 runs) for inspirational performances.


Such has been the gulf in performance between skipper Kohli and other batsmen in the team, despite blowing 'hot and cold' throughout the season, he is team's top scorer by a distance with 466 runs from 11 games. De Villiers (358 runs) is 108 runs behind his skipper, although he has played two games less. Mandeep Singh (245 from 11 games) is third in the list and is another 200 runs (221 runs) behind Kohli.


For KXIP, Rahul has been in a different league with five half-centuries and a strike-rate of 162 plus and an average of nearly 60. Rahul will be desperate to get some support from Gayle, who has gone quiet after initial carnage. A quickfire 50 from Gayle can change the complexion of the game.


However, it is the bowling which has let both RCB and KXIP down on many occasions.


For KXIP, the standout bowler has been Andrew Tye with 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8 per over while teenage mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman has been exceptional with 14 wickets at a miserly rate of 6.99 per over.


The problem area has been skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's inability to get breakthroughs with only six scalps from 11 games at 8.13 runs per over.


Axar Patel, the only player retained by the franchise, has fared even worse. He has got chance in only five of the matches with only three wickets in his kitty at an economy rate of 8.73.


Tye's back-up pacers Barinder Sran (4 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.40) and Mohit Sharma (6 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.88) have been disappointing and this is where the runs have been leaked.


In case of RCB, Kohli's propensity to tinker with bowling combinations after almost every game has had an impact on the performance. Only India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 7.57) and Umesh Yadav (14 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 8.23) have played all the games.


The next specialist bowler who got to play more than five games is Mohammed Siraj (8 wickets from 8 games at an economy rate of 9.13).


Save Chahal, the spinners have been a big flop. Washington Sundar's inexperience (economy rate of 9.60 with 4 wickets from 7 games) and Pawan Negi's profligacy (economy rate of 12.25 in 2 games) have hurt Kohli and Co's chances.


Chris Woakes got 8 wickets from five games but an economy rate of 10.36 meant that  the skipper had to use Tim Southee (5 wickets from 5 games at an economy rate of 8.42).


The Teams


Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar.


Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(C), Quinton de Kock(w), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.