Durban, May 1: Yuvraj Singh shone with both bat and ball, but still couldn’t prevent Kings XI from slumping to a tight eight-run loss to Bangalore Royal Challengers in their sixth Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Yuvraj (3/22) led from the front with a hat-trick to restrict Bangalore to 145/9 in 20 overs, and then wielded the willow at the top to give his side a flying start with a 34-ball 50 that included three boundaries and four sixes. The middle-order however wobbled and couldn’t sustain the pressure of scoring at more than eight runs per over. Needing 13 off the final over, Kings XI could only score four, finishing at 137/7 in 20 overs.

The target was made steeper by the South African power-hitter Roelof van der Merwe who hit a a crucial 37 down the order for Bangalore. His blistering knock eventually poured water over Yuvraj’s effort as well as Yusuf Abdulla’s 4/36. With this loss, the Punjab outfit’s three-match winning run was halted. Previous to this encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders were the only team to have beaten them.

Earlier, Bangalore struggled after early losses and needed Jacques Kallis to last the full quota of overs. He and the recalled Robin Uthappa had put on 42 when Yuvraj struck. With the last two balls of the 11th over of Bangalore’s innings, Yuvraj dismissed both Uthappa and Kallis. He achieved the fourth IPL hat-trick with the first ball of the 13th, trapping Mark Boucher with a quick arm ball.

Despite the cluster of wickets, van der Merwe did not curb his natural instincts. He started his stint by slamming Yuvraj for a boundary through point and followed it with a huge six over midwicket off Piyush Chawla.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 145/9 in 20 ovs (J. Kallis 27, R. van der Merwe 35; I. Pathan 2/19, Y. Abdulla 4/36, Yuvraj 3/22) bt Kings Xi Punjab 137/7 in 20 ovs (Yuvraj Singh 50, K. Goel 20, P. Kumar 2/27, R. van der Merwe 2/22, A. Kumble 2/25).