Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ended their five-match losing streak against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as they defeated them by 10 runs in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Eden Gardens Stadium on Friday.
Chasing a mammoth score of 214, KKR got off to the worst start possible as they lost their big-hitting opener Chris Lynn (1) in the very first over. Dale Steyn, who was making a return to RCB's team after eight years, struck the first blow for the team. Sunil Narine (18) also failed to leave a mark as he was dismissed by Navdeep Saini, who bowled a short ball and had him caught at the hands of wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel.
Steyn struck for the second time as he dismissed Shubman Gill (9); the batsman was looking to go big but he was not able to time it and as a result he handed a simple catch to RCB skipper Virat Kohli, reducing KKR to 37 for three in the powerplay overs.Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa retrieved the innings for KKR in the middle overs as they stitched together a partnership of 46 runs, but the asking run-rate took its toll on Uthappa (9) as he was dismissed by Marcus Stoinis with the team still requiring 135 runs for the win off just 49 deliveries.
Andre Russell who came out to bat at number six, once again played in his trademark attacking style, and he along with Rana stitched together a partnership of 118 runs, which saw Rana bringing up his half-century in the 16th over.
Russell brought up his half-century off just 21 deliveries and he hit Stoinis for 19 runs in the penultimate over. As a result the team required 24 runs off the final over for the win. However, Moeen Ali maintained his nerves in the final over and he ensured RCB's victory by 10 runs.
Earlier, knocks of 100 and 66 respectively by Kohli and Moeen Ali propelled RCB to 213 runs on the board for the loss of four wickets in the allotted twenty overs.RCB got off to a cautious start as both openers, Kohli and Patel were not allowed to free their arms by the KKR bowlers and this pressure resulted in the falling of Patel (11) in the fourth over. The batsman was looking to play a big shot off the bowling of Narine, but he could only manage to hand a simple catch to Nitish Rana.
KKR restricted RCB to just 42 runs for the loss of one wicket in the powerplay overs.Akshdeep Nath, who came out to bat at number three, provided support to Kohli at the other end and these two batsmen retrieved the innings for RCB, stitching together a partnership of 41 runs. But the partnership was cut short by Russell as he bowled a short ball, Nath (13) was unable to time the ball properly and he handed a simple catch to Uthappa, reducing RCB to 59 for two in the ninth over.
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Ali who came out to bat next, started to play with an aggressive mindset from the very start and he along with Kohli changed the tempo of the RCB innings. The duo stitched together a partnership of 90 runs, which saw Kohli bringing up his half-century in the 15th over.
The left-handed Ali continued to go on his merry way and he brought up his fifty off just 24 balls. Ali (66) smashed Kuldeep Yadav for 27 runs in the 16th over but the latter had the last laugh as he dismissed him in the very same over.
KKR bowlers were unable to execute proper death bowling skills and RCB made full use of the opportunity. Kohli brought up his fifth century in the IPL off just 57 balls, the team scored 91 runs off the final five overs and as a result RCB posted 213 runs on the board.
On April 21, Kolkata Knight Riders will play against Sunrisers Hyderabad whereas Royal Challengers Bangalore face Chennai Super Kings.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 213/4 ( V Kohli 100, MM Ali 66, AD Russell 1-17) defeat Kolkata Knight Riders 203/5 (N Rana 85*, A Russell 65, DW Steyn 2-40) by 10 runs.
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