IPL 2018: KKR sends RCB deeper into the mire

Royal Challengers Bangalore is now halfway through this IPL season and it is yet to convince even the most ardent fan that it is a side capable of claiming the title.

It sank deeper into the mire on Sunday, suffering a fifth defeat in seven games as Kolkata Knight Riders notched up a comfortable victory at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

On a pitch where the ball gripped and turned, Virat Kohli’s third fifty of the season had lifted RCB to 175 but Chris Lynn, dropped on seven, anchored the run chase with an unbeaten 62 as the visitors triumphed with five balls to spare.

KKR set off in pursuit of the target with predictable gusto, Sunil Narine riding his luck and swinging his bat at anything within reach.

At the other end Lynn was generously reprieved in the fourth over, M. Ashwin — making his RCB debut — grassing a straightforward high catch in the covers; Kohli could only hold his head in his hands.

Lynn cashed in, smacking Umesh Yadav for 11 runs off the next over, as KKR motored to 51 without loss in the PowerPlay.

On the other side of a 33-minute rain delay, Ashwin struck with his first delivery for RCB, having Narine caught on the fence; the latter had done his job, though.

Robin Uthappa made himself at home instantly, playing some delightful shots in a 21-ball 36, before Ashwin had him hole out to long-on.

Andre Russell's first-ball dismissal lifted the crowd's spirits but Lynn and Dinesh Karthik ensured there would be no late twist.

Earlier, Kohli's half-century illuminated an otherwise dull RCB innings.

Until the skipper arrived to whack the ball around, RCB had made slow progress on a seemingly sluggish pitch. A.B. de Villiers, who had taken CSK's spinners apart in the previous game, was absent with a viral fever: he was replaced by Tim Southee, one of four RCB changes.

Sent in, the home side managed only 40 runs in the PowerPlay, throttled by KKR's spinners. Just when Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock appeared to have switched gears, the latter fell.

Not long after, McCullum and Manan Vohra fell off successive Russell deliveries to round off a terrible passage of play for RCB: three for eight in two overs.

It took RCB 14 overs to get to 100, at which point the innings was in desperate need of a burst of energy.

Kohli's first boundary was a searing drive through the covers off Russell. RCB's captain next played a pair of stunning shots off the Jamaican's bowling: a short-arm jab that sailed over long-on and a fierce whip off his legs that cleared mid-wicket.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 68 as RCB rattled up 66 in the last five overs.