Bengaluru: Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets on Friday thanks to brilliant batting exploits from Sunil Narine (47 off 22 balls) and Venkatesh Iyer (50 off 30 balls).
Batting first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted a total of 182 for 6 riding on Virat Kohli's brilliant knock of unbeaten 83 runs. Harshit Rana and Andre Russell picked two wickets each. In the chase, Venkatesh Iyer scored a half-century while Sunil Narine played a knock of 47 runs.
KKR won with 19 balls to spare and became the first team in this season of the Indian Premier League to win an away game.
Here are Live updates from the match
- Over 16.5 (186/3)
10 runs from the last over and Shreyas Iyer finishes the game with a six. KKR becomes the first team to win from away this season. - Over 16 (176/3)
Yash Dayal bowls a slower ball outside off on the first delivery and Venkatesh loses his wicket as he tries to slog the ball but is caught in the deep midwicket. Nine runs from the over. - Over 15 (167/2)
Venkatesh kicks off the over from Siraj with a six-over deep square leg for a maximum. The left-handed batter completed his fifty in just 29 balls. 17 runs were taken from the over and KKR need only 16 runs now to seal their second win of the fixture. - Over 14 (150/2)
Winning seems to be just a formality for KKR as need to score less than run-a-ball from here on. Vyshak tried pace variation in the over but KKR batters are playing comfortably as they don’t have any pressure to increase the tempo. Six runs from the over. - Over 13 (144/2)
Venkatesh walks down the track to smack a boundary in the extra cover region and the KKR batters get seven runs from the over. Run rate isn’t a factor of concern for the side as they are in a commanding position. - Over 12 (137/2)
It seems that short balls are not troubling Venkatesh while Shreyas is playing the bouncers with caution. Five runs from the over and the batting side are on their way to an easy chase. - Over 11 (132/2)
Venkatesh Iyer advances down the track and whacks the second delivery of the over in the deep mid-wicket region for a maximum. Another boundary in the square region and then played a pull over deep fine leg for a six. 20 runs from the over and KKR heading for an easy win. - Over 10 (112/2)
RCB have opted for the strategy of attacking Shreyas Iyer with short deliveries and Vyshak troubled him on a few occasions as well. KKR are in a good position to win and the bowling team needs to take wickets as soon as possible if they want to make a comeback in the game. - Over 9 (104/2)
Venkatesh Iyer dances down the track to punish Mayank Dagar with a six. The duo don’t have any concerns regarding the required run rate as they are already scoring at a rapid rate. 11 runs from the over. - Over 8 (93/2)
RCB brought in Vijaykumar Vyshak as an impact player and he bowled well in his first over. The pacer gets the wicket of Phillip Salt as the owner tried to pull a short delivery and Cameron Green took an easy catch at deep square-leg. Four runs from the over. - Over 7 (89/1)
Mayank Dagar is introduced into the attack with the hope that he will provide a breakthrough and the spinner delivers. An inch-perfect yorker to shatter the stumps of Narine who was looking dangerous. Venkatesh Iyer comes to the crease. Quality bowling from Dagar as he leaks only four runs from his first over. - Over 6 (85/0)
Narine continues his onslaught in the sixth over as he pulls the third delivery from Yash Dayal for a maximum over deep midwicket. Next, a maximum straight down the ground. A 21-run over and KKR are off to a flier. - Over 5 (64/0)
This is just the fourth 50-plus opening stand for KKR in the IPL since 2022. Every other team has had five or more in the period, RCB leading the way with 13. Siraj is rightly attacking Narine on the short ball but he bowled it slightly back of the length on the penultimate delivery and Narine pulled it for a six. 11 runs from the over. - Over 4 (53/0)
KKR openers could manage to add only seven runs in the fourth over bowled by Yash Dayal. - Over 3 (46/0)
There was no stopping Sunil Narine, who hammered two sixes off pacer Alzarri Joseph as Kolkata Knight Riders amassed 14 runs in the third over and were on course for a comfortable chase. The openers have laid a strong foundation stone. - Over 2 (32/0)
Yash Dayal conceded 14 runs in his first over as it was a dream start for Kolkata Knight Riders, who were chasing 183 runs for a win. Sunil Narine joined the party and hit Dayal for a boundary on the fourth ball of the over mid-off. - Over 1 (18/0)
Kolkata Knight Riders were off to an aggressive start as they collected 18 runs in the first over. Philip Salt was brutal on pacer Mohammed Siraj as he struck two sixes and one four in the very first over.
End of Royal Challengers Bengaluru Innings
- Over 20 (182/6)
Kohli uses his wristwork to his a humongous six over the leg-side on the second ball. The team were looking to end up on a low total but Karthik’s brisk hitting in the last over ensured that RCB’s total would be around 180. A total of 16 runs from the over by the pacer. - Over 19 (166/5)
Two sixes from Dinesh Karthik in the over and the first one came smacks a six to the full delivery outside off. The next one was on the last ball as he whacked a shot ball over long-on for a maximum. Finally, some much-needed boost to the run-rate. - Over 18 (153/5)
While Kohli is steering the scoreboard, the wickets are falling around him and Anuj Rawat walks back to the dugout. The wicketkeeper batter edged a slower cutter off-side and the wicketkeeper batter made no mistake in grabbing the sitter. - Over 17 (148/4)
While Kohli is playing an anchor role from one end, wickets are falling around him. Russell dismissed Rajat Patidar with a slower ball as the batter failed to pull the ball and it was up in the air at deep mid-wicket. Rinku Singh grabbed the sitter and the batter walked off to the pavilion on a score of 3. - Over 16 (141/3)
An impressive over from Mitchell Starc as he leaks only three runs from the first five balls. Kohli played an aerial shot from the backfoot to earn four runs. - Over 15 (134/3)
Narine provided a crucial breakthrough for the team as Maxwell walked back to the pavilion in pursuit of a leap in run rate and was caught in the deep by Rinku Singh. Kohli took advantage of a tossed delivery and made room to smack a delivery through offside for four runs. - Over 14 (124/2)
A Second chance for Maxwell as he was dropped by Narine at the short third man. 15 runs from the over as the Australian all-rounder is switching gears. - Over 13 (109/2)
Maxwell was dropped by Ramandeep Singh in the over and this might turn out to be costly for the KKR side. Only five runs but the lifeline given to Maxwell might be dangerous. - Over 12 (104/2)
Virat Kohli completes his half-century with some brilliant strokeplay. 17 runs from the over and RCB are now upping the ante with the Indian ace batter switching gears. - Over 11 (87/2)
Russell is doing so well tonight. He conceded only a couple of runs from the over with the use of the cutters. RCB now have pressure to steer the run rate now. - Over 10 (85/2)
Three runs from Varun Chakarvarthy and the KKR bowlers are now putting a leash on the scoreboard. The mystery spinner conceded only three runs from his over and the RCB batters need to improve the run rate as soon as possible. - Over 9 (82/2)
Andre Russell is introduced into the attack and he gets a breakthrough as soon as he is introduced into the attack. Green smacked his low full-toss for a six but the West Indian all-rounder bowled a full-length delivery and the batter missed the hit. The ball deflected from his pads and crashed into the stumps. - Over 8 (74/1)
Kohli continued his brilliant run and attacked Narine on the fourth delivery of the over with a sweep for a six. 10 runs from the over. - Over 7 (64/1)
Anukul is varying his lines smartly and almost dismisses Cameron Green. Three runs from the over and the left-arm orthodox spinner is bowling with discipline. - Over 6 (61/1)
Green has decided to take on Narine and he smoked the spinner for 15 runs. The right-handed batter shuffled across the stumps and earned two fours through off-side and when the bowler followed him the batter whacked the ball for a maximum. - Over 5 (46/1)
Three runs from Anukul Roy’s over as he bowled wicket to wicket and both the batters are now building the partnership. Both the batters are now steadily moving forward the scoreboard but they are yet to set their co-ordination as there were instances of mix-ups between both. - Over 4 (43/1)
Kohli is middling the ball and is playing some good strokes. Harshit bowled a bouncer on the last ball and Green played an upper cut amassing four runs as a result. - Over 3 (34/1)
Virat Kohli flicks a slower ball from Starc on the second delivery and the ball sails into the stands for a maximum. Next, it was a lucky four as Kohli got an inside edge. Kohli is continuing his form from the last match and RCB batters garner 17 runs from the over. - Over 2 (17/1)
Last match’s hero Harshit Rana bowls the second over for the bowling side and he is focused on bowling the short deliveries. He bowled the fourth delivery on full-length and du Plessis played a brilliant scoop for maximum. But, he walks back to the pavilion next ball after mistiming his scoop. - Over 1 (7/0)
Mitchell Starc start the proceedings for RCB while India’s ace batters Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis will open the innings. A lucky boundary for the former on the first ball as the outside edge races towards the third man for a boundary. Seven runs from the over. - Playing XI
RCB: F du Plessis (Captain), V Kohli, RM Patidar, GJ Maxwell, C Green, KD Karthik, Anuj Rawat (Wicketkeeper), AS Joseph, MJ Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
KKR: PD Salt (Wicketkeeper), VR Iyer, SS Iyer (Captain), RK Singh, SP Narine, AD Russell, Ramandeep Singh, MA Starc, AS Roy, Harshit Rana, CV Varun - Toss
KKR won the toss and chose to bowl.
