Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost three matches in a row and slipped to the sixth position of the points table in this edition’s Indian Premier League (IPL). In the end, it was the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who succumbed them to their fourth consecutive loss. by 10 runs with the help of century from Virat Kohli. The KKR’s very own Andre Russell’s 25-ball 65 with nine sixes went in vain as KKR kept languishing at the bottom half.
During the toss, the RCB skipper, Virat Kohli revealed that they have made a couple of changes to their squad as Umesh Yadav and AB de Villiers made way for Henrich Klaasen and Dale Steyn. On the other hand, KKR skipper, Dinesh Karthik said that they have made no changes to the squad.
WATCH – Moeen Ali Smashed Kuldeep For 27 Runs Before Getting Out
While batting first, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel started their innings cautiously as they scored just 17 runs in the first three over and on the second ball of the fourth over itself, as Sunil Narine got successful in getting the wicket of Narine owing to a juggling catch by Nitish Rana at deep mid-wicket. Surprisingly, after Parthiv’s dismissal, Akshdeep Nath came out to bat despite having players like Moeen Ali, Marcus Stoinis and Klaasen in the batting line-up.
However, that gamble failed for RCB as Nath was dismissed by Andre Russell in the 9th over, then Moeen Ali came out to bat and he built a strong partnership with Kohli. Both of them added 90 runs for the third wicket, before Ali getting out in the 16th over by Kuldeep Yadav. However, before getting out on the final ball of the over, Ali smashed Kuldeep for 27 runs with the help of three sixes and a couple of fours.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Saying No To Mankading To Sunil Narine
After Ali’s dismissal, Kohli kept on slogging the KKR bowlers and brought up his fifth IPL century in just 58 balls with the help of 4 maximums and 9 boundaries. It was an innings to remember for Kohli, who helped RCB reach a mammoth score of 213/4. They amassed as many as 91 runs in the last 5 overs.
During the chase, KKR lost Chris Lynn in the first over itself owing to some brilliant bowling by Steyn. In the fourth over, even Narine got out followed by Narine getting out in the fourth over. In the very next over, Steyn dismissed the young Shubman Gill with the help of a brilliant catch by Kohli. After his dismissal, Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana added 46 runs for the fourth wicket as Uthappa was dismissed by Marcus Stoinis in the
WATCH – Virat Kohli Takes A Brilliant Catch To Dismissal Shubman Gill
Then came Andre Russel to the crease and KKR needed almost 16 runs per over. He joined hands with started Rana and added as many as 118 runs in just 49 balls. They smashed some very big over like the 15th and the 19th overs were smashed for 20 and 19 runs respectively. KKR needed 23 runs in the final over and Ali came out to the ball and barred KKR to go over the line.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 213/4 in 20 overs (V Kohli: 100, M Ali: 66; A Russell: 1/17) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders – 203/5 in 20 overs (N Rana: 85*, A Russell: 65; D Steyn: 2/40) by 10 runs
Here is the Twitter reacted to RCB’s win:
At a point of time it did feel like @NitishRana_27 and @Russell12A will get KKR over the line but this batting order is over dependent. The top 4 could have had a better strike rate!#KKRvRCB
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 19, 2019
Rcb are brexiting – threatening to leave but not really doing so !!
— Rohan Gavaskar (@rohangava9) April 19, 2019
What an insane game of cricket 😳 Dre Russ wow bro insane!!!! #KKRvRCB #IPL12
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) April 19, 2019
Saw another super cricket match at the best venue in the country .. what a ground what a cricketing pitch..@imVkohli decision of steel to bowl moen ali..@BCCI
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) April 19, 2019
Well played Dre amazing knock
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) April 19, 2019
@Russell12A what are you doing to bowlers 🙈
Daaaaaayum!! 😱
Absolute Freak!!!!@IPL #KKRvsRcb #Carnage pic.twitter.com/ze9ch0PMNf— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) April 19, 2019
Why oh why is Russell batting so low? #KKRvsRCB
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) April 19, 2019
Whatever the result tonight, the things that Andre Russell is doing with the bat in this #VivoIPL is simply astonishing and remarkable. Almost every game. His range of scoring and power hitting has evolved even more than a year ago.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) April 19, 2019
Unbelievable batting by @Russell12A just too good! Will this be another miracle! Wow he’s just a demon with the bat! #IPL2019 #RCBvsKKR
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 19, 2019
Kul-Cha have already conceded 104 runs in 7 overs tonight. Kinda scary for an Indian Cricket fan. #KKRvRCB #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 19, 2019
What a 💯 boss ✊✊✊😊🙏 @imVkohli god bless u bulli always 😊⭐️ pic.twitter.com/g8sH1Dq23W
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) April 19, 2019
.@RCBTweets didn't look like getting 200+ but what a class performance from @imVkohli!! Moen too looked too good for @KKRiders bowlers, strange that Piyush Chawla bowled just one over?#KKRvRCB
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 19, 2019
VIRAT!!!!!!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉 you little biscuit @imVkohli Top knock from @MoeenaliAli as well👏Bowlers to follow through what’s been a very good 1st half
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) April 19, 2019