Saha, Hendricks silence RCB

Why did Kings XI wait for their penultimate match to play Wriddhiman Saha as an opener? Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra failed consistently yet the Kings XI think tank never once thought of pushing Saha, one of their best top order batsman last season, to face the new ball. Saha did play a few matches as No. 3 but was constantly shuffled lower down the order.

With Sehwag continuing to sit out and Vijay dropped on Wednesday evening, Saha did not waste time declaring his intent. Even Mitchell Starc, the best fast bowler this IPL, was dominated in the first over of the match. A full toss on the legs, Saha flicked it strongly for a four and then played a bold stroke by pulling Starc from outside the off stump for another four.

But Saha took 20 runs in the next over by S Aravind, who was Royal Challengers Bangalore's Man-of-the-Match the last time the teams met. In fact Saha got out trying to charge Aravind in that away match in Bangalore. Today, Saha just made use of the slower pace of Aravind to hit powerful boundaries including a straight six. Saha perished on the first ball of the third over, but his 31 runs was the highest score for a batsman on either team.

Saha's fireworks tilted the balance straightaway in Kings XI's favour. Even though Vohra, having failed to read Harshal Patel's slower ball, holed out to an easy catch in the deep, 50 for 1 was a dominant position. Glenn Maxwell has failed miserably this IPL and the opposition don't really have to do much to outthink the maverick Australian allrounder.

And so it was the case on Wednesday evening: the first ball he faced Maxwell tried to reverse sweep David Wiese as if he was swatting an irritating mosquito droning around his ear. He missed badly. Next ball he tried to casually charge down but got an inside edge. Then the immediate ball after Vohra's exit, Maxwell picked the length and line quickly as he moved outside off stump to pull over midwicket for a four. Attempting the stroke once again the very next ball, Maxwell sulked in disbelief at his erroneous decision as a simple catch went to AB de Villiers on the rope.

Maxwell's brain fades are famous. But one would expect something wiser from David Miller, who nearly took Kings XI home in a high-scoring match against Sunrisers Hyderabad which they lost narrowly by five runs after the South African's rallying charge came a bit too late.

Today, Miller had just hit consecutive straight sixes against Royal Challengers' legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Yet on the next ball he showed his hand prematurely while getting out of the crease, thereby allowing Chahal to send the ball wide of the off stump. Dinesh Karthik picked the ball nicely to knock off the bails and catch Miller embarrassed. These twin acts of madness only further enhanced Saha's cameo at the top.

If there was a ball of the day it must be handed to Sandeep Sharma. In order for Royal Challengers to win, it was imperative Chris Gayle not just bat deep but also hit at least one big boundary every over. He had taken 10 runs off Sandeep's first over, but thereafter was kept in check. The asking rate had climbed to nearly 12 runs an over when Sandeep started the fifth over.

He delivered two wides but had not offered any room for Gayle or de Villiers to punish him. On the fourth delivery Sandeep decided to go round the stumps. He then banged it short of length. Gayle stepped out to pull. But he was taken completely by surprise as the ball rushed on to him before taking an edge. It was a knockout punch delivered without any warning.

Beuran Hendricks was the man who closed the gates on the opposition today by making sure of three things: he did not offer any width to the Royal Challengers' openers, varied his pace smartly and delivered yorkers accurately. Six runs in his first over was not a bad start at all. By the time he returned for his final over, the visitors needed 38 from the final three overs. Mandeep Singh and Dinesh Karthik are diminutive but can easily pack a powerful punch.

Hendricks did not care today as he cleverly took the pace off the ball and then kept the batsmen rooted in the crease with fuller or yorker-length deliveries. Karthik advanced against one such delivery which had pitched on the fourth stump and edged into the hands of Saha. Just five runs came off the eighth over, including two leg byes, with Hendricks finishing as the most economical bowler on the day: 2-0-9-1.