Bengaluru (Karnataka): Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, owing to Andre Russell’s crucial knock.
With this loss, RCB have now suffered defeats in their first five matches of this year’s edition of the IPL.
Chasing a mammoth score of 206, KKR got off to a flying start as openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine scored 17 runs off the first over. But RCB staged a comeback as they dismissed Narine (10) in the second over of the innings.
Robin Uthappa joined Lynn in scoring continuous boundaries in the powerplay overs. KKR managed to score 59 runs in the first six overs.
The duo kept the pressure going on RCB’s bowlers and they did not let any bowler settle. Both these batsmen stitched together a partnership of 65 runs. Pawan Negi provided RCB with the key breakthrough as he dismissed Uthappa (33) in the 10th over of the innings.
Lynn (43) was also sent back to the pavilion by Negi in the 12th over of the innings with KKR still requiring 98 more runs for the win. After Lynn’s wicket, RCB bowlers were able to maintain a tight grip on the match which enabled the asking rate to go higher for the KKR batsmen.
Nitish Rana (37) was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal. The batsman was looking to go big but he just managed to hand a simple catch to the substitute fielder Heinrich Klaasen.
KKR lost wickets at regular wickets and they suffered a big blow as they lost their skipper Dinesh Karthik (19) in the 17th over, as he was dismissed by Navdeep Saini.
53 runs were required off the final three overs by KKR and their hopes were stacked with the all-rounder Russell.
Russell, however, did not disappoint. His match-winning knock of 43 runs off just 18 balls helped KKR gain a thrilling victory by five wickets with five balls to spare.
Earlier, Virat Kohli’s and Ab de Villiers’ knocks of 84 and 63, respectively, enabled RCB post 205 runs for the loss of three wickets in the allotted twenty overs.
RCB got off to a good start in the first six overs as the openers Kohli and Parthiv Patel hammered the visitors with regular boundaries. The team was able to score 53 runs in the powerplay overs.
The duo stitched together a 64-run partnership before Parthiv (25) was dismissed by Rana. Parthiv failed to read the ball out of Rana’s hands and he was adjudged LBW.
De Villiers, who came out to bat at number three, looked to play with an aggressive mindset from the start. Kohli brought up his fifty in the 11th over.
Both de Villiers and Kohli kept the pressure going on KKR’s bowlers, hammering them all around the park. The duo added 108 runs which saw ABD bringing up his half-century in the 16th over of the innings.
Kohli was finally dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav in the 17th over while he was searching for quick runs. With this knock of 84, Kohli surpassed Chennai Super Kings’ batsman Suresh Raina to become the highest run-getter in IPL.
De Villiers (63) also perished in the 19th over of the innings as he was dismissed by Narine. Marcus Stonis (28*) provided RCB with some big blows in the final over, allowing the team to post 205 runs for the loss of three wickets in the allotted twenty overs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will face Delhi Capitals next on April 7 at 4 pm whereas Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Rajasthan Royals on April 7 at 8 pm.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 206/5 (A Russell 48*, CH Lynn 43, P Negi 2-20 ) defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore 205/3 (V Kohli 84, AB de Villiers 63, N Rana 1-22) by five wickets.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]