On this day in 2016 - RCB beat KKR

A couple of days prior to 16th of May 2016, RCB had registered their biggest ever win in terms of runs, destroying the Gujarat Lions by 144 runs; Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers had put on a display for the ages, which would be looked at as a blueprint for flawless batting. Despite the win, RCB were in a precarious position on the points table and needed to keep winning to remain adrift in the tournament. The team could not rest upon its laurels from a couple of days ago and had to start all over again as they had their task cut out playing the Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The Knight Riders, having been put in to bat, lost the wicket of Robin Uthappa early; Iqbal Abdulla taking a fantastic catch diving to the left off his own bowling. The second-wicket partnership between KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey steadied the KKR ship. Both batsmen reached their respective fifties, and RCB desperately needed a wicket to stem the flow of runs. RCB got a lucky breakthrough as a mix-up between the two settled batsmen lead to the run out of Gambhir. 

Gambhir’s dismissal brought Yusuf Pathan to the crease, but he struggled to get going. With the onus now on Pandey to make up for Pathan’s time, the former went for a shot too many and holed out to AB de Villiers at long-on off his Karnataka teammate S Aravind. Pathan soon followed, stumped by KL Rahul off Yuzvendra Chahal, and when Suryakumar Yadav failed to clear Abdulla at long-off, RCB had snared 3 wickets in a span of 11 balls and were now well on top.

The Kohli - AB De Villiers stand of 115 runs off only 67 balls took RCB over the line

The advantage was not to last too long though, as the two all-rounders Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan, took full toll of the final overs of the innings. Despite the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, Russell muscled the very next ball for a six to declare his fearless approach. The Russell-Hasan duo put on a 58-run partnership in 28 balls. KKR, despite the stop-start nature to their innings, had scored a competitive 183/5 in their 20 overs.

The pressure was well on the RCB batting to rescue two valuable points. Chasing 180-plus was not going to be an easy task against the Knight Riders on their own turf. Chris Gayle had been in the middle of a lean patch throughout the season, and RCB needed him to start firing soon. Perhaps, the venue where he announced himself for RCB was to be the spark he needed. He was going at less than a run-a-ball after 15 balls of the innings had passed. Then Gayle decided to open up. His fellow West Indian, Andre Russell bore the brunt of Gayle’s fury, as he smashed Russell for two consecutive sixers. The opening stand between Gayle and the in-form Kohli put RCB well on course, having put on 71 runs at nearly 10 runs an over. 

Gayle fell a run short of his half-century, but the dismissal brought together the pair that had dismantled Gujarat Lions in the previous game. Could lightning strike twice? If ever there were two batsmen one could pick to hunt down to a tall run-chase, it would be Kohli and De Villiers. The duo was clinical in their pursuit as they first built a strong base playing risk-free cricket, collecting runs efficiently without going gung-ho. At the 12 over mark, with 83 runs needed off the last 8, they targeted the KKR spinners, Shakib and Piyush Chawla. The next three overs went for 34 runs, which included three sixers, and RCB were on course to chase down the target.

With time running out, Gambhir brought back his trump card Sunil Narine to break the partnership. Not only did de Villiers and Kohli successfully negotiate the threat Narine posed, but a six off the last ball of his spell was a sign of supreme control the duo possessed in the run-chase. 40 off the last 4 overs was not going to be a problem for the in-form pair, and they completed the task with an over left. De Villiers remained unbeaten on 59 off 31. Kohli was awarded the player of the match for his 75 off 51. RCB had made a daunting target seem paltry, winning by 9 wickets with an over to spare.