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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 21 runs in yesterday’s 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Sent into bat after losing the toss, Kolkata posted 200/5 as Jason Roy (56 off 29) and Nitish Rana (48 off 21) played quick-fire knocks. Their bowlers then held Bangalore to 179/8 despite a half-century from Virat Kohli.
In the chase, RCB got off to a bright start, reaching 30/0 after two overs. Faf du Plessis slammed consecutive sixes off Umesh Yadav in the second over. He, however, perished to Suyash Sharma for 17 off 7 balls, miscuing a wrong’un to long-on.
Kohli kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals. At the other end, though, Suyash trapped Shahbaz Ahmed lbw for 2 as the batter went for a sweep.
Glenn Maxwell (5) also fell inside the powerplay, slicing a catch off Varun Chakaravarthy’s bowling to mid-off. Mahipal Lomror struck two sixes off Sunil Narine as RCB reached 96/3 at the halfway stage of their innings.
Kohli reached a half-century with a couple off Suyash’s bowling. Lomror was looking dangerous but fell to Chakaravarthy for 34 off 18, miscuing a big hit off the KKR leggie to deep midwicket.
Andre Russell then dealt Bangalore a body bloq by dismissing Kohli for 54 off 37 balls. The RCB opener pulled Russell to deep midwicket, where Venkatesh Iyer took an excellent diving catch.
Kohli’s dismissal left Bangalore in trouble at 115/5 at the start of the 13th over. Dinesh Karthik contributed 22 off 18 but the chasing side were never in the hunt once Kohli was back in the dugout.
The Roy-Rana show for KKR
Asked to bat first, Kolkata did a great job of posting 200/5. Openers Roy and N Jagadeesan (27 off 29) added 83 in 9.2 overs to lay a solid foundation for the batting side.
Roy was the dominant partner in the stand by some distance, kicking off by striking Mohammed Siraj for two boundaries in the first over. He then took on Shahbaz Ahmed in the last over of the powerplay, clobbering him for four sixes in five balls. Roy went on to reach a 22-ball fifty.
The opening stand ended when Jagadeesan pulled Vijaykumar Vyshak to deep midwicket. In the same over, the RCB pacer also dismissed Roy as the KKR batter shuffled across his stumps and missed a yorker.
Poor fielding, however, hurt Bangalore’s cause. KKR skipper Rana was let off twice. On five, Siraj dropped a simple catch at long-off off Vyshak’s bowling. Rana raced away to 19 when Harshal Patel dropped him at fine leg, this time off Siraj’s bowling.
The Kolkata captain made RCB pay, slamming Harshal for consecutive sixes in the 16th over. In the next over bowled by Vyshak, he whacked the pacer for two fours and a six. His blazing knock ended when he miscued a reverse sweep off Wanindu Hasaranga.
Venkatesh Iyer contributed 31 off 26. Rinku Singh (18* off 10) and David Wiese (12* off 13) then found crucial boundaries in the last two overs to lift KKR to 200. Wiese struck two sixes off Harshal in the 20th over.
RCB vs KKR: Who won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2023 match?
Roy and Rana played fine knocks to ensure Kolkata put up a good score. Chakaravarthy then put RCB on the back foot, claiming 3/27. Suyash and Russell chipped in with two each.
For RCB, Hasaranga impressed with 2/24, while Kohli contributed a defiant half-century with the bat.
Chakaravarthy was named the Player of the Match for his impressive three-wicket haul.
