On this day, April 24, 2019: Ab De Villiers magic as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Kings XI Punjab. It was the 42nd match of the IPL 2019 season played between Royals Challengers Bengaluru and Kings XI Punjab. RCB were batting first and got off to a good start with Parthiv Patel taking on the bowlers. Virat Kohli was the first to be dismissed as he fell for 13 and RCB lost their first wicket with 35 runs on the board. Ab De Villiers walked in at Number 3 and straight away put the bowlers under pressure. He formed a good partnership with Parthiv Patel.
KXIP bounced back as they picked up the wicket of Parthiv for 43 runs. Suddenly Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost a flurry of wickets as they went from 71/1 to 81/4 in a matter of few overs. RCB were in a spot of both and Marcus Stoinis joined AB De Villiers and the duo consolidated well for sometime and then took on the bowlers.
Stoinis played a terrific cameo of 46 runs while AB De Villiers went past his half century and provided a great finish to RCB as they ended with 202/4 at the end of the first innings. AB De Villiers was unbeaten on 82* and it was a spectacular knock which ensured that RCB got a very good total in the first innings. Chasing the target, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul dominated the power play and just as they were getting into a strong position, KXIP lost the wicket of Chris Gayle.
Mayank Agarwal came in and stitched a partnership with KL Rahul as Kings XI Punjab went past 100 runs within ten overs and were dominating the game. RCB bowlers pulled things back brilliantly as they restricted KXIP to 185/7 to win the match by 17 runs. Most of the batters got starts for KXIP but no one could make it big and eventually they ended up losing the game. ABD was the player of the match for his outstanding innings.
