RCB huff and puff to defeat KKR by 3 wkts

Mumbai, March 30: Royal Challengers Bangalore huffed and puffed to cross over the target of 129 set by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 6th match of Tata IPL played at Brabourne Stadium here on Wednesday, they sent KKR in to bat, and soon RCB bowlers wreaked havoc. They had KKR on the mat and threatened to skittle them out under 100, but Andre Russel (25, 18 balls) played in his usual top gear, but could not survive long enough. Umesh Yadav (18, 12 balls) put some deliveries to sword to set 129 runs target for KKR. RCB fans never thought that they would start off the chase poorly. They were three down in the first three overs as Umesh Yadav (2/16) and Tim Southee (3/20) rattled them with nagging line and length. Sherfane Rutherford (28, 40 balls) and David Willey (18, 28 balls) dropped anchor and stopped KKR bowlers to make further inroads. But once they were sent back and after Shahbaz Ahmed (27, 20 balls) cameo, it was left to Dinesh Karthik (14, 7 balls) to complete the story. Luckily, he survived a tragic runout to take RCB over the line alongside Harshal Patel (10, 6 balls) who struck a couple of fours in the penultimate over. Andre Russell got injured while fielding and with 7 to defend in the last over, he did his best only to fall short. Earlier, Wanindu Hasaranga’s sharp bowling helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 128 all out. Hasaranga, who was picked by RCB for a whopping sum of Rs 10.75 crore in this year’s mega auction, paid back the owners in kind by picking up four wickets, and at one stage he was on a hattrick. His victims were some of the greats in cricket, including KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer. Hasaranga dismissed the dangerous Narine before sending Saurashtra keeper Sheldon Jackson back to the pavilion. His last victim was Tim Southee. Harshal Patel was brought in the 12th over and he bowled two consecutive overs. They lost Venkatesh Iyer 10 (14), Ajinkya Rahane 9 (10) and Nitish Rana 10 (5) in powerplay. Soon Shreyas departed after making 10 off 10 balls. Narine and Jackson failed to do much as well, as KKR were 6 down for 67 after 9 overs. Sam Billings also departed cheaply on 14 off 15 balls. Andre Russell smacked some big hits, but managed 25 off 18 balls. A cheeky 27-run stand between tailenders Umesh Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy took them to near the 130-mark.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis on Wednesday said Dinesh Karthik is as cool as Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “Dinesh Karthik is as close as it gets to Mahendra Singh Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool. I rely on other people for help. We have great people in the camp. There is good communication in the group. (UNI)