Kolkata Knight Riders chased down a steep 186-run target set by Royal Challengers Bangalore, winning by five wickets with five balls to spare to rise to second in the Indian Premier League table with their fifth win in eight games.
It was a game of contrasting fortunes as Bangalore, at one stage, almost looked like running away with the game before Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell came to the party with blazing knocks. Pathan’s unbeaten 60 came off just 29 balls, while Russell’s 39 came off just 24 balls which was studded with four sixes and one four.
It was Bangalore’s fifth defeat in seven games and they slid to seventh in the table, above bottom side Kings XI Punjab.
Earlier, stylish half-centuries by Kohli and Rahul and batting carnage at the back-end by Shane Watson and Sachin Baby saw the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) accumulate 185 for seven.
Rahul produced a stylish 52 off 32 balls, while Kohli struck four boundaries in his 52-run knock. Watson, Baby and Stuart Binny exposed the mediocre death bowling by KKR, hammering 54 in the last three overs. Umesh Yadav conceded 41 runs in his last two overs. Watson’s 34 came off a mere 21 deliveries.
Chris Gayle threatened briefly by launching Morne Morkel down the ground for a maximum in the second over, but the lanky fast bowler responded with a bouncer delivery and Gayle departed for seven off a failed hook.
Rahul was unperturbed by Gayle’s departure, getting into his stride with some extravagant shots against off-spinner Sunil Narine and pacer Umesh Yadav. The hosts reached 51 for one in the seventh over.
Kohli manoeuvred the ball through the inner ring with sensational timing and ran twos almost at will. The RCB captain has been described by Shane Warne, Australian legend, as the world’s premier T20-batsman, and he underlined his dominance yet again.
At the other end, Rahul was showing some artistry of his own. He struck an imperious six off Piyush Chawla and then caressed it between two fielders at point for a four as the 10th over produced 15 runs and RCB moved to 79 for one. He continued the boundary bashing against Narine by smashing 13 in the 11th over. Chawla’s retribution was sweet in the 12th when Rahul tried to slice him over deep extra cover but ended up holing out to Yusuf Pathan for 52.
Kohli picked up the pace after Rahul’s departure, slaying the spinners with his tremendous attacking array. Chawla then produced arguably one of the finest deliveries of the current IPL, a flipper that accounted for AB de Villiers when the batsman was on 4. RCB slipped to 109 for three in 14 overs.
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 185/7 (KL Rahul 52, V Kohli 52, S Watson 34; M Morkel 2/28, P Chawla 2/32) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders: 189/5 in 19.1 overs (Y Pathan 60*, G Gambhir 37, A Russell 39) by five wickets