Russell and Yusuf waylay Royal Challengers
The duo hammers 96 in 7.2 overs to heap misery on the beleaguered home team bowlers
Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan mounted a stunning
assault on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s beleaguered bowlers to help
Kolkata Knight Riders to a five-wicket victory here on Monday.
The
pair added 96 runs in 7.2 overs as KKR, chasing 186 for victory, sailed
home with five balls to spare at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The
result helped the visitors climb to second spot on the IPL table while
RCB, condemned to a fifth loss, remained in seventh place.
When
Russell and Pathan were united at the crease, KKR was in some trouble,
needing 117 runs off 59 balls. But these are small boundaries. Defending
a total here is hard enough at the best of times.
When Russell and Pathan, two immensely powerful strikers of the ball, get going, there is little hope for a fielding captain.
Stumping chance
The
Jamaican offered a stumping chance on 13, but K.L. Rahul, who earlier
had entertained the crowd with his third straight half-century, spurned
it.
Tabraiz Shamsi, Varun Aaron and Shane Watson
bled a total of 58 runs in the space of three overs as the contest
effectively drew to a close.
Russell fell for 39
(24b, 1x4, 4x6) but Pathan remained unbeaten on 60 (29b, 6x4, 3x6).
RCB’s bowlers will wonder what they can do now, their 19 extras a bleak
contrast to KKR’s four.
Earlier, Rahul helped RCB regain ground after a ponderous start. Chris Gayle lasted all of seven balls on his comeback.
He
played the first five patiently, swung the sixth — from Morne Morkel —
over the sight-screen, and perished off the seventh, top-edging a short
delivery from the South African. Morkel and Andre Russell bowled with
control in the opening stages, limiting RCB to 30 in the first five
overs.
Things improved as Rahul swung into action.
Sunil Narine went for 10 in his first over and Piyush Chawla 15 in his
second, Rahul clobbering the leg-spinner for a towering six.
The
Karnataka batsman tucked into Narine again, sweeping him over the
fine-leg boundary and next ball raising his fifty, off 29 balls, with a
reverse-sweep for four. The West Indian had a bad day by his own
standards, leaking 45 from his four overs.
Rahul fell
chasing a wide one from Chawla, the end of an 84-run (58b) stand for
the second wicket. A.B. de Villiers was out to the UP bowler not long
after, trapped in front by a quicker delivery.
Having gone for 24 from his first two overs, Chawla recovered admirably, taking two for eight from the next two.
RCB
was staring at a mediocre total until some quick runs from Shane
Watson, Sachin Baby and Stuart Binny changed the colour of the innings.
Fifty-four runs came off the last three overs, including 41 off two
bowled by Umesh Yadav. His counterparts, though, would fare worse.
RCB 185/7 (20.0 Ovs)
KKR 189/5 (19.1 Ovs)
Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wkts
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