Miller’s quickfire ton steals unlikely win for Kings XI Punjab

TOP SHOT: Kings XI Punjab’s David Miller belts the ball on way to his century against Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday.IANS/MohaliRiding on David Miller’s quickfire century —  the third fastest of the IPL  —  Kings XI Punjab clinched a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling high-scoring game at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium yesterday.Chasing a stiff target of 191, Miller (101 not out off 38 balls) walked in when Kings XI were struggling at 64 for four in the 10th over.Miller and Rajagopal Satish (18-ball 27) then stole the show with an unbeaten 130-run stand for the fifth wicket in 49 deliveries as Kings XI scored 194 for four with 12 balls to spare. Royal Challengers skipper Virat Kohli must be cursing himself for the loss as he dropped a sitter when Miller was batting on 41.In the next over, there was more frustration for Kohli as Miller smashed Rudra Pratap Singh for two sixes and four fours as 26 runs came off the 15th over and swung the match in favour of the home team, who jumped from 112/4 to 138/4 in just six balls.There was no stopping Miller, who in the next two overs smashed pacers Ravi Rampaul and Vinay Kumar for two sixes and two fours to take Kings XI to 172 for four after the 17th over.The match was almost in the grasp of Kings XI as they needed 18 runs off the last three overs.Hoping for some luck, Kohli introduced Chris Gayle, who this time got a taste of his own medicine and was spanked for 22 runs as Kings XI ran away with an unlikely win.Gayle’s first three balls went for 15 runs scored by Satish and Miller got the winning runs and also his century in style by smashing the last ball for a huge six.Miller struck eight fours and seven sixes during his knock and was also adjudged man of the match.In the last five overs, Royal Challengers bowlers gave away 99 runs and gifted away the match that was well in their grasp till the 11th over when Kings XI were 79 for four after the top order collapsed.The only bowler, who got some respect from Miller was left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who gave away 24 runs for his two wickets from three overs.SCORECARD

Royal Challengers BangaloreCheteshwar Pujara b Gony     51Chris Gayle b Gony     61Virat Kohli c Marsh b Awana     14AB de Villiers not out     38Moises Henriques not out     16Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 1)     10 Total (for three wickets in 20 overs)     190Fall of wickets: 1-102 (Gayle, 11.2 overs), 2-133 (Pujara, 15.1), 3-144 (Kohli, 16.5)Bowling: Praveen Kumar 4-0-28-0 Parwinder Awana 4-0-28-1 Manpreet Gony 4-0-41-2 Michael Neser 4-0-62-0 Piyush Chawla 4-0-26-0Kings XI PunjabMandeep Singh c A Karthik b V Kumar     16Shaun Marsh c de Villiers b Rampaul     6Gurkeerat Singh lbw b Kartik     20David Hussey c Henriques b Kartik     13David Miller not out     101Rajagopal Sathish not out     27Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 4, nb 1)     11 Total (for four wickets in 18 overs) 194Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Marsh, 2.3 overs), 2-25 (Mandeep Singh, 4.2), 3-51 (Gurkeerat Singh, 7.4), 4-64 (Hussey, 9.5)Bowling: Ravi Rampaul 4-0-27-1 Rudra Pratap Singh 3-0-38-0 Moises Henriques 3-0-29-0 Vinay Kumar 4-0-48-1 Murali Kartik 3-0-24-2 Chris Gayle 1-0-22-0Toss: Kings XI Punjab, who chose to fieldResult: Kings XI won by six wicketsPlayer of the match: David Miller (Kings XI)Umpires: VA Kulkarni and NJ Llong (England)TV umpire: K SrinathMatch referee: RR Jadeja