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Yuvraj Singh’s all-round performance could not stop Bangalore Royal Challengers to clinch a thriller against Kings XI Punjab at Kingsmead on Friday (May 1). Chasing a target of 146 runs, Kings XI Punjab were stopped just eight runs short of the victory. Royal Challengers skipper Anil Kumble showed some excellent display of tight bowling in the 19th over when Kings XI needed 17 runs off the last 12 balls. Praveen Kumar then bowled an economical last to stop Kings XI at 137 for seven.
Earlier electing to bat first, Royal Challengers started the innings on a disastrous note by losing the top three batsmen with just 38 runs on the board. Irfan Pathan (2-19) and Yusuf Abdullah (4-36) inflicted much trouble on Challengers batsmen. But the star of the match was Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh who claimed a hat-trick by dismissing Jacques Kallis (27), Robin Uthappa (19) and Mark Boucher (2) off successive deliveries. However a cameo from Roelof Van der Merwe (35 off19) helped Challengers to put a competitive total on the board.
Kings XI Punjab started their innings nicely with Yuvraj and Karan Goel (20) putting on to an opening stand of 70 runs. Yuvraj blasted 50 off just 34 deliveries, hitting four sixes and three fours. After the fall of Goel and Yuvraj, Kings XI lost their path and experienced their first defeat against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Although Kumar Sangakkara (17) and Mahela Jayawardene (19) tried to rescue the team, but their efforts were not enough.
