Blazing Narine leads the chase as KKR makes short work of RCB
Venkatesh follows suit with top score of 50 and with Salt and Shreyas chipping in, Knight Riders records a sevenwicket win with 19 balls to spare; Kohli carries his bat for a 59ball 83 to take Royal Challengers to 182 for six which proves inadequate
Just six overs into the chase, the writing was on the wall. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had established utter dominance, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had nowhere to turn.
While RCB gently tiptoed to 182 for six, KKR sprinted to the finish line in their IPL encounter here on Friday. KKR’s allout attacking intent was made clear by openers Phil Salt (30, 20b, 2x4, 2x6) and Sunil Narine (47, 22b, 2x4, 5x6), who smashed fearsome blows to rack up 85 runs in the first six overs.
With the required run rate now down to seven an over, Venkatesh Iyer (50, 30b, 3x4, 4x6) and Shreyas Iyer (39 n.o., 24b, 2x4, 2x6) faced no pressure. The middleorder duo settled in, picked on the loose deliveries, and helped KKR reach home with 3.1 overs to spare.
Save for a wicket for local lad V. Vyshak, the 34,000odd spectators had little to cheer about in the KKR essay.
Earlier, Virat Kohli (83 n.o., 59b, 4x4, 4x6) carried his bat for RCB, even if he was not in full flow. Kohli and his partners struggled when the pace was taken off by the KKR bowlers.
Cameron Green (33, 21b, 4x4, 2x6) and Glenn Maxwell (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) kept Kohli company in uninspiring partnerships.
For the third successive outing, Dinesh Karthik came to the rescue in the death overs. Karthik walked in to bat in the 18th over, and provided late momentum with an eightball 20.
A shoddy fielding display let RCB off the hook. The worrying trend was set when Ramandeep Singh fluffed a run out chance early in the essay to hand Green a life.
It got worse for Ramandeep, when he put down a skier at deep midwicket when Glenn Maxwell was on 11.
KKR was further embarrassed when Narine fluffed
ROYAL CHALLENGERS Virat Kohli (not out) 83 (59b, 4x4, 4x6), Faf du Plessis c Starc b Rana 8 (6b, 1x6), Cameron Green b Russell 33 (21b, 4x4, 2x6), Glenn Maxwell c Rinku b Narine 28 (19b, 3x4, 1x6), Rajat Patidar c Rinku b Russell 3 (4b), Anuj Rawat c Salt b Rana 3 (3b), Dinesh Karthik run out 20 (8b, 3x6); Extras (b-1, w-3): 4; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 182.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-17 (du Plessis, 1.6 overs), 2-82 (Green, 8.6), 3-124 (Maxwell, 14.1), 4-144 (Patidar, 16.3), 5-151 (Rawat, 17.3), 6-182 (Karthik, 19.6).
KNIGHT RIDERS BOWLING
Starc 4-0-47-0, Rana 4-0-39-2, Anukul 2-0-6-0, Narine 4-0-40-1, Russell 4-0-29-2, Varun 2-0-20-0.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Phil Salt c Green b Vyshak 30 (20b, 2x4, 2x6), Sunil Narine b Dagar 47
(22b, 2x4, 5x6), Venkatesh Iyer c Kohli b Dayal 50 (30b, 3x4, 4x6),
Shreyas Iyer (not out) 39 (24b, 2x4, 2x6), Rinku Singh (not out) 5 (5b);
Extras (lb-7, w-8): 15; Total (for three wkts. in 16.5 overs): 186.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-86 (Narine, 6.3), 2-92 (Salt, 7.5), 3-167 (Venkatesh, 15.1).
RCB BOWLING
Siraj 3-0-46-0, Dayal 4-0-46-1, Joseph 2-0-34-0, Dagar 2.5-0-23-1, Vyshak (Impact Player in place of Karthik) 4-0-23-1, Green 1-0-7-0.
Toss: KKR; PoM: Narine.
KKR won by seven wickets with 19 balls to spare. a sitter a short while later to give Maxwell another reprieve.
In the 17th over, the virus spread to Varun Chakravarthy, who failed to hold on to a low catch offered by Anuj Rawat.
The KKR opening blitz, however, made up for these failings.