Miller ton stuns Bangalore in Mohali
David Miller's astonishing form continued on Monday night as he scored an unbeaten century off just 38 balls to lead the Kings XI Punjab to an unlikely six-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mohali.
David Miller's astonishing form continued on Monday night as he scored an unbeaten century off just 38 balls to lead the Kings XI Punjab to an unlikely six-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mohali.
Miller took what was an almost impossible task of scoring 191 to win, following a top order collapse, and secured the victory with two whole overs to spare, hitting seven sixes in the process. He is the only batsman to boast an average over 100 at this stage of the contest, and his ton was the third overall.
Bangalore would have been confident of winning, given their 190 for three score, thanks to Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers coming to the party in spectacular style. Gayle struck 61 off just 33 balls before falling, while De Villiers ensured the score with his 38 not out off 19.
The big news for Indian fans though was the appearance, and subsequent success of Cheteshwar Pujara, who recorded his first ever T20 half century in his first IPL appearance of the season. The classy batsman made 51 before being bowled by Manpreet Gony, showing no ill effects from injury.
The loss of Gayle and Pujara at crucial stages, and then Virat Kohli for few runs, meant the Challengers couldn't post as big a score as they would have liked on a ground made for batting. De Villiers' cameo was much needed, and at the time seemed sure to result in two points.
The Kings' chase was dire from the get-go, as they lost four wickets within the first 10 overs for just 64 runs. The chase seemed dead and buried, with Shaun Marsh, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh and David Hussey back in the hut without decent scores.
Miller then came in and showed why he is considered one of South Africa's more talented prospects, turning a useless chase into a thrilling one. No bowler was spared his wrath, with Gayle being clobbered for 22 runs in the one over he bowled.
Miller brought up the winning score with a huge six off the final ball of the 18th over, recording his century in the process, and stunning the Challengers into silence as they failed to go top of the IPL table.
Kings XI Punjab: S Marsh, Mandeep Singh, D Hussey, D Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, R Sathish, M Neser, P Chawla, P Kumar, M Gony, P Awana
Royal Challengers Bangalore: S Tiwary, C Gayle, V Kohli, AB de Villiers, M Henriques, C Pujara, Arun Karthik, Vinay Kumar, R Rampaul, M Kartik, RP Singh
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