Kings XI Punjab tasted their first defeat of the IPL 2018 campaign as they suffered a four-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s men ran the hosts close despite having a modest total of 155 to defend as the home side clinched victory with three balls to spare.
17-year-old Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman put in another impressive display as he finished with figures of 1/29.
Here, we take a closer look at the youngster’s spell.
STATISTICS
OVERS: 4
WICKETS: 1
RUNS CONCEDED: 29
ECONOMY-RATE: 7.25
30-SECOND REPORT
With Kings XI defending a modest total, the Afghan teenager was brought on to bowl in the power-play and he delivered in confident style after conceding only three runs in his opening two overs while picking up the wicket of Virat Kohli. The wealth of subtle variations at his disposal made Mujeeb almost impossible to get away as batsmen found it hard to read his wrong-one. It was only in his final over that he was inflicted some punishment by AB de Villiers.
How good has young Mujeeb been for #KXIP in this game so far.
His bowling figures read 2-0-3-1#RCBvKXIP pic.twitter.com/ej80W18VsQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2018
GOT RIGHT
With his confidence already bolstered after a stupendous debut, the spinner’s first task on Friday was to put a brake on the scoring rate and he performed it admirably, showing no signs of nerves while bowling to some of the world’s best batsmen in Kohli and AB de Villiers. Not one to overdo his googly, Mujeeb used it sparingly but to lethal effect at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
GOT WRONG
Quite simply, nothing. Mujeeb’s mastery of the art of spin still remains a novelty in the IPL with the teenager coming in as a surprise package. That even the likes of Kohli were struggling to read his googly speaks volumes about the impact the Afghan youngster has had. His only gripe will be with his final over where he conceded two sixes and a boundary but you can’t really blame the young man given it was De Villliers doing the tonking. Went for 19 in that over to spoil his otherwise excellent figures.
KEY MOMENTS
QUITE FIRST OVER
Bowing the third over in the power play, Mujeeb conceded just two runs while having Quinton de Kock and Kohli as the batsmen to contend with. That tight over helped Punjab build the run-rate pressure on the home side.
KOHLI’S SCALP
If Mujeeb’s first over was good, his second was a showstopper. After bowling two dot-balls to Kohli, the youngster showed his class with a ripping googly that had the RCB skipper completely flummoxed. Pitching in on off stump, it spun in sharply to dislodge Kohli’s stumps with the batsman playing for the conventional spin. To get arguably the world’s best limited-overs batsman dismissed in that fashion as a 17-year-old is worthy of special praise.
After getting @henrygayle twice at #CWCQ, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman has added @imVkohli to his victims list!
And he’s only 17!#RCBvKXIP #IPL2018 pic.twitter.com/EEK88Wmvuq
— ICC (@ICC) April 13, 2018
VERDICT – 7/10
For the second match in a row, the Afghan spin prodigy has had everyone sit up and notice his outrageous talents. His team might have ended up on the losing side but Mujeeb’s meteoric rise continues. The final over takes some sheen off an impressive performance but he will have a big role to play in Kings XI’s campaign this season judging by the faith bestowed on him by skipper Ravichandran Ashwin.
