The Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to find their batting groove yet again as the Kings XI Punjab picked up their fifth straight win in IPL 2014 with another dominating performance.
Desperately needing a good outing with the bat, the Royal Challengers failed to put up a good effort, managing a mere 124 for eight in their 20 overs, despite Chris Gayle returning to the lineup.
That target was never going to be enough to trouble the Kings XI batting might, which has made merry this season, and despite the best efforts of the RCB bowlers, the Punjab franchise eased to a five-wicket win with seven balls to spare.
"The momentum can turn around very quickly in this format," said RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who was a little unlucky to be given out lbw in the first innings. "Today was one of those days where we didn't apply ourselves with the bat and we'll have to go back to the drawing board.
"It's tough when you middle the ball and it goes to the fielder but that's how it is. It was a commendable effort from the bowlers though. [Varun] Aaron and [Yuzvendra] Chahal have been bowling beautifully and it's really pleasing to see them bowl so well for us."
The man who set the game up for KXIP was Sandeep Sharma, with the swing bowler picking up three wickets at the top, including Chris Gayle and Kohli, to walk away with the man of the match honours for the second straight game.
"I'm just feeling lucky that I'm getting back-to-back man of the match awards and I'm feeling awesome," he said at the presentation ceremony. "I'm just enjoying myself and enjoying the moment playing for Kings XI.
"Getting Chris Gayle was great and an awesome feeling, especially against a batsmen that usually hits every bowler."
Kings XI Punjab were in tricky positions on a couple of occasions during the chase, losing Glenn Maxwell early, and then seeing the two settled batsmen David Miller and Virender Sehwag fall in quick succession.
However, skipper George Bailey and Rishi Dhawan kept the winning run chugging along with a nice partnership to see them over the line.
"Confidence is a big thing and right now we are working very well as a unit, which is the most important aspect," Bailey said. "Low totals can sometimes be tricky, but we're happy to get through in the end."
