IPL 2019, KKR vs RCB: Twitter erupts as Virat Kohli and Co. stay in contention for the playoffs in spite of Russell's carnage

A brilliant innings from Kohli set things up for RCB [Image: BCCI/IPLT20.com]

The 35th match of the season was held between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and asked RCB to bat first. It was a blessing in disguise for the visitors as they got an opportunity to express themselves on the wicket where the ball was coming nicely on to the bat.

However, RCB did not get the start they would have wanted. They lost the wicket of Parthiv Patel in the fourth over and the scoreboard was moving slowly after that. The decision to promote Akshdeep Nath backfired as he played a very slow innings. When he got out RCB were 59/2 in the ninth over and they needed a move on.

After the fall of the second wicket, Moeen Ali joined his captain Virat Kohli at the crease. Just like the last game, Moeen got off to a great start. He completed his half-century in just 24 balls. The Englishman smashed Kuldeep Yadav to all parts of the field as the chinaman went for 27 in one over. However, Kuldeep had the last laugh by taking his wicket with the last ball of the over. Moeen smashed 66 runs in 28 balls which included six maximums.

Once Ali got out Virat Kohli took the charge and destroyed KKR's bowling attack. The RCB captain completed his fifth century in IPL history. RCB crossed the score of 200 for the second time against KKR this season.

Chasing a huge target, KKR almost lost the wicket of Chris Lynn on the first ball of the innings as an edge was dropped by Stoinis in the slip cordon. But Lynn failed to make most of the oppurtunity as Dale Steyn picked the wicket of the Australian in the same over. Sunil Narine smashed four boundaries and got out in the fourth over. Kohli gave the extended spell to Steyn which paid off as the South African pacer removed Gill in his third over.

From there on, it was almost impossible for KKR to win the match. Nitish Rana played a good innings but the task was too huge for even the great Andre Russell. The West Indian entertained the crowd with some incredible hitting but he couldn't win the match for KKR this time. RCB won the match by 10 runs to register their second win of the season.

Here's how the Twitterverse reacted to the same: