INDIA: In a high-scoring thriller, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) emerged victorious over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 21 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday, April 26. The win marked a comeback for KKR, who had lost three out of their previous four games.
KKR Vs RCB
KKR won the toss and elected to bat first. After a quiet start, Jason Roy took a liking to his England teammate David Willey and scored 17 runs off his over. Shahbaz Ahmed’s next over went for 25 runs, and KKR ended the powerplay at 66 without losing a wicket. Roy scored 56 off 29 balls and set the stage for a big total.
However, after Roy’s dismissal, Royal Challengers Bangalore tightened things up and kept picking up wickets regularly. Nitish Rana (48) and Venkatesh Iyer (27) steadied the ship, but it wasn’t until Rinku Singh (18) and David Wiese (12) that gave KKR the late impetus. The duo smashed 15 runs off the last over to take KKR to 200 for 5, which ultimately proved to be a winning total.
RCB started their chase strongly, with Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli hitting boundaries at will. However, Suyash Sharma’s introduction to the attack turned the tide in KKR’s favour. Sharma dismissed du Plessis and Shahbaz Ahmed in quick succession, and Varun Chakravarthy removed Glenn Maxwell to leave RCB reeling at 58 for 3 in the powerplay.
Kohli (54) and Mahipal Lomror (34) staged a recovery with a 55-run partnership, but their dismissals in quick succession swung the game back in KKR’s favour. Despite Dinesh Karthik’s valiant effort of 22 off 18 balls, RCB fell short by 21 runs in the end.
KKR’s win took them from eighth to seventh on the points table, while RCB remained fifth. The result also broke RCB’s momentum, as they had won four of their previous five games.
KKR’s next match is against the Delhi Capitals on April 29, while RCB will face the Punjab Kings on May 1.
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