Kohli’s unbeaten 68 from 44 balls isn’t enough as RCB are handed their fifth defeat in seven games this season.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in match 29 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. Playing in front of their home crowd in Bangalore, RCB posted 175 in the first innings which the visitors chased down with 6 wickets and 5 balls to spare.
KKR got their run chase off to a flying start as their openers Chris Lynn (62*) and Sunil Narine (27) put on a 59 run stand for the first wicket. Following the dismissal of Narine, Uthappa came in and put some quick runs on the board with his 36 off 21 deliveries. Skipper Karthik also contributed with 23 runs from 10 balls, but it was Chris Lynn who steered his team home with a Man of the Match performance as he batted right through the 20 overs.
Earlier in the game, KKR skipper Karthik won the toss and sent in the Royal Challengers to bat first. Virat Kohli who came in at the eight over was the pick of the RCB batsmen as he scored an unbeaten 68 off just 44 deliveries. However, as has happened often this season it wasn’t enough to guide his team to victory as a bad fielding performance from RCB allowed Kolkata to comfortably chase down the total.
Catch all the highlights from the game here
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Turning point
The turning point of the game was the quick-fire innings played by KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik who scored 23 off just 10 deliveries at a strike rate of 230.00. Coming in to bat in the 16th over after Russell threw away his wicket for a golden duck, Karthik with his quick runs got his team into a winning position before he was dismissed by a brilliant catch by Kohli.
Best Dismissal
The best dismissal was the spectacular catch taken by the RCB skipper Virat Kohli to dismiss his opposite number. Karthik who had just scored a six in the over went for another big one as he lifted the ball straight down the ground. Kohli sprinted in full speed to his left from long on before diving at just the right moment to take a beautiful catch with both hands under the ball. With just 5 runs needed at that point, it was too little too late, but Kohli with that effort deprived Karthik of the joy of scoring the winning runs.
Batsman of the Match
The batsman of the match goes to Chris Lynn for his composed innings as he took his team to victory with an unbeaten 62. Dropped at 11 in just the fourth over of the innings, Lynn went on to play some sensible cricket and stayed on till the end to see his team through.
Bowler of the Match
The bowler of the match will have to be Kuldeep Yadav who ended the night with figures of 1/20 and an economy rate of just 5.00. After going for 12 runs in the very first over of his spell, the left arm spinner came back brilliantly to give away just eight runs in his next 3 overs.
Captain’s views
Dinesh Karthik (KKR captain), “Always feels better to win first. Nothing too special about where we are, nothing bad about being in the middle of the table, we need to use some momentum from here. I thought it was a par sore, they batted really well and we knew Virat was the big wicket we needed in AB's absence. He came all guns blazing. I believe we need to have a strong core and trust them. I've felt that you need to trust the players that are part of the XI. They're great kids (Mavi and Gill) and they're learning, they have good things to talk, lots of credit to Rahul as well, they have good things to say about him.”
Virat Kohli (RCB captain), “The pitch is bringing out surprises every time we play here. 175 was a really good score, we were thinking of 165 at one stage after those wickets, so 10 more was a bonus. If we look back, we didn't deserve to win. I don't think we're trying hard enough, we need to be hard on ourselves. All 11 of us need to come together and bring that excitement on the field.”
What’s next
RCB’s next game will be another home fixture against the Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. KKR travel back to the Eden Gardens where they host Chennai Super Kings on Thursday.
Points table
This win doesn’t change anything in terms of positions on the points table. KKR continue to remain in fourth place with eight points from their eight games this season, while RCB remain seventh with just four points from their seven games. Find the updated points table here.