KKR seal easy win despite Virat Kohli’s valiant show at the M Chinnaswamy

Things didn’t go as planned for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they were outplayed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in their latest clash of the ongoing IPL. Despite a fine show of batting from Virat Kohli, Cameron Green and Dinesh Karthik, it was not to be for the hosts as their bowlers were peppered all around the park.

Winning an important toss, KKR opted to bowl first. Despite losing Faf du Plessis (8) early, Virat Kohli and Cameron Green were quick to recover and retaliate as they left the Knights under the pump early on. Cameron Green scored a well-orchestrated 33 before Andre Russell dismissed him. 

Glenn Maxwell’s arrival in the center did prepare the stage for a grand finish but despite a good start, Maxi fell for a feisty 28. With wickets tumbling at the other end, Virat Kohli fought hard enough and continued to spearhead the charge for the hosts. Much to the woes of RCB, their engine room had another collapse with Rajat Patidar (3) and Anuj Rawat (3) failing to add much.

Eventually, a breezy finish from Karthi, who smashed 20 off eight balls, clobbering three maximums in the process propelled RCB to 182/6. Virat Kohli stayed unbeaten for a 59-ball-83 while Andre Russell was the pick of the bowling lot for KKR with figures of 2/29.

The track bettered in the second half as dew came into play and what was initially a slow surface, changed into a featherbed despite the occasional slow ball still doing its bit. The two openers of KKR, Phil Salt (30) and Sunil Narine (47), killed the game in the powerplay itself.

The duo added 85 runs in the first six overs which left RCB with very little to do going further. Despite Mayank Dagar and Vyshak Vijaykumar removing the two KKR openers, yet the damage was too overwhelming to be overlooked. Venkatesh Iyer got the rest of the job done in a flash with a 30-ball-50 while Shreyas Iyer anchored the innings from the other end with a 24-ball-39 as KKR finished the chase in just 16.5 overs.