Lynn fifty helps Kolkata trump hosts Bangalore
BANGALORE: It pays to have attacking options in bowling and as is his wont, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli picked two leg-spinners for a game against Kolkata Knight Riders that they needed to win to go into the second half with some wins under their belt.
However, to have two leg-spinners also requires having others who can put the pressure to make the leggies’ contribution effective, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
But RCB once again paid the price of poor bowling with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj being expensive, allowing Kolkata Knight Riders to win by six wickets with five balls to spare after Virat Kohli had led them to a challenging 175/4 with brilliant strokeplay befitting a world class batsman.
KKR, led by Chris Lynn’s wellpaced 62 not out (52b, 7x4, 1x6), reached 176/4 in reply, winning with five balls to spare after showers held up the game for some time.
Kohli had played shots that made one breathless even though he found little support from the others. Only openers Brendon Mccullum and Quinton de Kock could make significant contributions, putting on 67 in eight overs. What was needed right after that was building on it but what happened instead was a jittery trot to the eventual score, made enjoyable only by Kohli’s knock.
His opening boundary, a drive through cover off Andre Russell that rolled to the fence, took the cake. He repeated the stroke against Mitchell Johnson and ensured that he retained the strike, not allowing a struggling Mandeep Singh any of it. It was crucial as AB de Villiers play the game.
Such was the impact of his knock that when the two had added 50, the skipper’s share was 36 and Mandeep’s 12. He wound up the knock with straight sixes, one off Narine and another off Russell with a slight whip imparted with his wrists,
then topping it all up with a pulled six off Mitchell Johnson to take his team to the eventual total.
But if his knock was delightful, it was overshadowed by poor bowling and some sensible batting by Kolkata.
Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine put on 59 for the first wicket and
although M Ashwin provided two breakthroughs, they weren’t enough. Lynn stayed on to score his 22nd T20 fifty and the second of this IPL as Narine and then Robin Uthappa played aggressive cameos to take the game away from RCB. Lynn’s effort won him the Man-of-the-match.