Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 wickets in the 29th match of VIVO IPL 2018 played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore just finished a few moments ago. Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field. Despite Kohli 68, McCullum 38, de Kock 29, RCB only posted 175 for 4. While chasing Chris Lynn played the whole innings and helped KKR win the match.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and invited Royal Challengers Bangalore into bat. In today’s match, there was no AB de Villiers for RCB due to illness. RCB openers Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum started slowly. Brendon McCullum was the aggressor while de Kock also played some positive strokes.
At the end of 6 overs, RCB posted 40 runs. After the powerplay overs, both batsmen then attacked KKR bowlers. Kuldeep dismissed Quinton de Kock for 29 off 27 balls. Brendon McCullum and Manan Vohra went in the same over to leave RCB at 75 for 3 in 10 overs.
RCB captain Virat Kohli took time to settle and then played some lovely shots which made the fans at Bangalore happy and dancing. Mandeep Singh scored 19 off 14 balls. Kohli reached his half-century off 37 balls, continued to take charge with some lovely hitting in the death overs. RCB captain Virat and Mandeep Singh added 65 runs for the 4th wicket.
Virat Kohli remained not out on 68 off 44 balls and helped RCB post a competitive total of 175 for 4 in 20 overs. For Kolkata Knight Riders, Andre Russell was the pick of a bowler taking 3 wickets for 31 runs.
Chasing 176, KKR opener Sunil Narine looked aggressive right and Chris Lynn also joined with the hitting. At the end of 6 overs, KKR scored 51 for 0. Rain arrived at the score of 55 for 0. Soon after the break, M Ashwin dismissed dangerous Sunil Narine for 27 off 19 balls. Robin Uthappa looked aggressive right from the start putting pressure on RCB bowlers. M Ashwin dismissed Uthappa for 36 runs off 21 balls adding 49 runs for a 2nd wicket.
RCB bowlers made a comeback with good bowling. Nitish Rana had to retired hurt due to a muscle cramp. Mohammad Siraj picked the big wicket of Andre Russell off the very first ball. Lynn reached his fifty off 42 balls. Dinesh Karthik came to the crease and scored 23 off 10 balls.
Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by 6 wickets with 5 balls to spare. For RCB, Mohammad Siraj and M Ashwin picked 2 wickets each.
KKR 176 for 4 in 19.1 overs ( Chris Lynn 62*, Robin Uthappa 36, Dinesh Karthik 23, Mohammad Siraj 2/40, M Ashwin 2/36) beat
RCB 175 for 4 in 20 overs ( Virat Kohli 68*, Brendon McCullum 38, de Kock 29, Andre Russell 3/31) by 6 wickets.
RCB captain Virat Kohli said: 175 was a good total on this pitch,10 more than usual. We don’t deserve to win this match. We were not good enough today on the field. From now onwards we need treat every match as a semi-final. Need our guys to step and hope for a better show.
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik said: It was a good performance by our team to restrict RCB to 175. Always feels good to be on the winning side. Virat Kohli batted brilliantly and put a decent total on the board. Andre Russell bowled taking 3 wickets. We need to use the win as a momentum from noon. The matches coming are tough and hoping our side can deliver the goods.
Man of the match Chris Lynn said: I had to grind runs for KKR this season. Using sweep is an ideal option in this part of the world especially against spin. The body is getting used to the tough schedule. We needed some wins from now onwards.
Delhi Daredevils will face Chennai Super Kings in tomorrow’s match at MCA Stadium, Pune.
