KKR show all-round performance in Kolkata, beat RCB by four wickets

Chasing a target of 177, KKR scored the required runs with seven balls to spare.

Continuing the momentum from last year’s IPL, KKR’s Sunil Narine came out to open the innings for his team and smashed the RCB bowling completely. With a 50 runs knock from just 19 balls, Narine placed KKR in an advantageous position upfront.

Narine, who failed to get much support from other opening batsman Chris Lynn, who scored just five runs and vice-captain Robin Uthappa, who went to the pavilion after scoring 13 runs, was dismissed after scoring the half century.

After the dismissal of Lynn, Uthappa and Narine, the partnership of 55 runs between Nitish Rana and KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik drifted the Knights closer to victory.

Rana, who was looking good with the bat after a superb bowling spell in the first innings of the match, was dismissed at 34 (25) as leg before wicket by Washington Sundar.

IPL debutant Rinku Singh was the next man to be dismissed at six runs, unnerving KKR towards the end of the match. He fell victim to Chris Woakes while trying to hook a short ball.

Though Andre Russell went out at 15, it was skipper Karthik along with Vinay Kumar scored the remaining runs for the team.

Karthik played a captain’s knock by scoring unbeaten 35 runs from 29 balls.

Earlier, KKR won the toss and sent RCB to bat first.

Reminding the KKR fans of an explosive knock of 154 runs against RCB in Bengaluru in 2008, Brendon McCullum started off in a similar fashion but wearing the jersey of RCB this time.

The visitors scored 14 runs in the first over of the match.

As the first success in the match, KKR got Quinton de Cock. Attempting a reverse sweep in a delivery of Piyush Chawla, de Cock fell into the hands of Vinay Kumar, who was placed at short third man. He was dismissed at just four runs.

Following the fall of de Cock’s wicket, RCB skipper Virat Kohli walked out in the midst of a jam-packed stadium. Giving a solid support to his partner McCullum, Kohli looked for quick singles at different parts of the ground to keep the scoreboard ticking.

At the end of the powerplay, boasting on an aggressive batting of McCullum, RCB put 52 runs on board losing just a wicket.

Immediately after the finish of the powerplay, KKR skipper Karthik brought Sunil Narine and Mitchell Johnson from the two ends.

Though Narine’s over was cheap, McCullum took a toll on Johnson’s over to push the RCB score further. The New Zealand batsman scored two boundaries in the over followed by a single to bring Kohli on strike.

But McCullum’s knock was put to an end by Sunil Narine, who is considered to be a trump card for the Knights. Narine’s straight delivery went to hit the stumps as McCullum missed it completely. He went to the pavilion by scoring 43 runs from 26 balls.

McCullum had entertained his fans with six fours and four sixes.

AB de Villiers went for two back to back sixes at the close of the 10th over, which was bowled Kuldeep Yadav.

In the next over only, Kohli shown his class by going in the mid-off region as he earned four runs for it.

With a pull from de Villiers, RCB reached 100 at just 11.2 overs. Showing no sign of stopping, he went for a maximum in the next ball.

The flow of runs was halted for an over when Andre Russell was brought into action as he conceded only five runs in the over.

The only thing KKR was hoping was a breakthrough which was provided by Nitish Rana. Shocking RCB, Rana cliched the wickets of de Villiers and Kohli in two successive balls of the 15th over.

While de Villiers had lost his wicket as he was going for a big one, Kohli was stunned by a yorker from the right-arm spinner, whose delivery dislodged the stumps.

AB de Villiers went for 44 (23) and Kohli was dismissed at 31 from 33 balls.

With the fall of two massive wickets, Rana put KKR right into the driver’s seat.

Johnson picked his first wicket of the match by dismissing Sarfaraz Khan, who was caught by Rinku Singh at the long on. Sarfaraz was heading towards the pavilion after scoring just six. Johnson clinched one wicket for 30 runs in four overs.

Though RCB was reeling at 160/6 in 19 overs, Vinay Kumar’s expensive last over helped the visitors to push the score to 176/7 in 20 overs.

However his two wickets in the 20th over in the form of Mandeep Singh and Chris Woakes acted as compensations for the men-in-purple.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)