Sunil Narine’s breezy 50 off 19 balls gave the Kolkata Knight Riders the headstart as they chased down 176-7 to beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets on Sunday.
Eden Gardens hosted the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The hosts sent RCB in to bat first and Brendon McCullum struck 14 off the first over. His opening partner, Quinton de Kock, only managed four before his dismissal, which brought RCB skipper Virat Kohli to the middle.
McCullum helped RCB past 60, with a 27-ball 43 (6×4, 2×6) but Narine struck in his second over to remove the former New Zealand skipper.
AB de Villiers walked out, took four balls to get his eye in and smacked consecutive sixes to announce his presence in this year’s tournament.
The pair reached their 50-run partnership in 26 balls and continued to hammer KKR’s bowling unit, taking the hosts past the 100-run mark.
Nitish Rana’s introduction shocked RCB. The part-time spinner, after being smashed for De Villiers’ fifth six, put an end to the South African’s ruthless approach. De Villiers skied a delivery to end on 44 off 23. Rana followed this up with the wicket of Kohli for 33, which left RCB rocked at 127-4.
Mandeep Singh kept the runs ticking and bumped RCB to a total of 176, hitting two sixes and four fours before losing his wicket after an 18-ball 37.
Narine led from the front for KKR and raced to his 50 in 17 deliveries. He fell just two balls later, RCB 65-2 (5.2 overs) after Chris Lynn was dismissed in the second over. KKR struggled to deal with Umesh Yadav’s pace, the seamer claiming the scalps of Narine and Robin Uthappa.
Rana and Dinesh Karthik brought their side back on track with a 55-run partnership of 33 balls but the former was dismissed for a 25-ball 34.
Despite losing another scalp, Andrew Russell smashed his side into the driving seat. The West Indian big-hitter smashed a four and six but lost his scalp in the following over.
Karthik stuck around to see his side home, scoring 35 off 29, KKR winning by four wickets.
Photo: BCCI-IPL/Website
