Royal Challengers Bangalore notch third win with a clinical display over Kolkata Knight Riders
The Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame early setbacks to post 204/4, which turned out to be a winning total against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday night (April 18). They remain unbeaten after three matches.
Opting to bat first, RCB were off to a nightmarish start, losing skipper Virat Kohli and young Rajat Patidar in the second over. But Glenn Maxwell (78 off 49 balls) and AB De Villiers (76 off 34) took the match away from KKR.
Maxwell strung together a stand of 86 (55 balls) with Devdutt Padikkal (25 off 28) before a rollicking 53-run (37 balls) partnership with De Villiers.
KKR tried to make a game out of it, but the steady fall of wickets undermined their chase. Several batsmen got good starts but couldn’t build partnerships to hurt RCB, who are atop with the leaderboard with six points.
Maxwell, De Villiers lift RCB after early setbacks in Chennai
Glenn Maxwell (78 off 49 balls) and AB De Villiers (76 off 34) of the Royal Challengers Bangalore smashed the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers around the MA Chidambaram Stadium to set a stiff target of 205 in the day match of the first double header in the Indian Premier League 2021.
RCB didn’t have the best of starts today as KKR struck in the second over through Varun Chakravarthy. The spinner’s double strike took out RCB captain Virat Kohli and young Rajat Patidar, but Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal (25 off 28) strung together a stand of 86 (55 balls).
That took RCB out of the woods and laid the platform for De Viliers magic. RCB reached 204/4 in 20 overs.
KKR have the batsmen to overhaul the total, but will they rise of up to the challenge. Let’s wait and watch
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are very keen to maintain their all-win record in IPL 2021. And the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) need a win badly to dismiss the loss against the Mumbai Indians as an aberration. So that makes the Bangalore-Kolkata clash an exciting one — the early match of the first double-header of Season 14.
KKR captain Eoin Morgan had rallied around his classy spinners with success at the Chennai pitch, but Virat Kohli’s Bangalore wouldn’t be overawed as their batting has stood up scrutiny quite well. That cannot be said the same of Kolkata, where Nitish Rana has been the solitary spot of consistency. Their middle-order would be keen to set the record straight without sacrificing the aggressive approach.
That makes for a thrilling encounter.
