RCB vs KKR IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders do the double on Royal Challengers Bangalore with a 21-run win

Kolkata Knight Riders got a much-needed win, after four losses in a row, as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 36 of TATA IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

A blistering 56(29) from Jason Roy and an attacking 48 off 21 from captain Nitish Rana powered KKR to 200/5. Varun Chakaravarthy (3/27) and Suyash Sharma (2/30) then spun a web around the RCB batters as KKR restricted RCB to 179/8 and won by 21 runs. 

Chasing 201, RCB got off to a breezy start as openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis went on the attack straightaway. Kohli slashed one to third man for a four off the first ball of the innings, from Vaibhav Arora and then du Plessis flicked one wide of short fine leg. The duo then went after Umesh Yadav, hammering 19 off the over as Kohli smacked one over extra cover for a four and then du Plessis ended the over with two sixes.

Nitish Rana brought on Suyash Sharma into the attack as early as the third over and the young spinner answered his captain’s call with the big wicket of du Plessis (17 off 7), caught at long on and giving away just three off the over.

Kohli kept the momentum going with a couple of fours off Suyash but the youngster bounced back in the over, trapping Shahbaz Ahmed LBW to make it 51/2. Chakaravarthy then struck a big blow by having the in-form Glenn Maxwell caught at mid off after the RCB batter had hit him for a four off the earlier ball. This was the first time this season RCB had lost three wickets in the Powerplay as they reached 58/3 at the end of the first six overs.

After a relatively quiet three overs, Mahipal Lomror upped the scoring, hammering a couple of sixes off Sunil Narine to take the score to 96/3 at the halfway mark.

Kohli then reached his fifty off 33 balls. Lomror (34 off 18) hit one more six off Chakaravarthy but the wily spinner bounced back to have him caught at deep square leg off the next ball. RCB lost another one in the next over, and the big one of Kohli (54 off 37) as he was brilliantly caught at deep mid-wicket by Venkatesh Iyer, off Russell. Kohli pulled it powerfully to deep mid-wicket where Iyer moved to his left and pouched a good low diving catch.

Dinesh Karthik and Suyash Prabhudessai added brisk 22 runs off 16 balls but a mix-up between the two saw Prabhudessai depart in the 15th over as Suyash Sharma finished an impressive spell of 4-0-30-2, giving away just six in his last over.

With 56 needed off 24 balls, Andre Russell bowled a good over, giving away just eight runs and picking up the wicket of Hasaranga. Chakaravarthy then provided a crucial breakthrough as he had Karthik (22 off18) caught at deep mid-wicket. He bowled a fantastic over, conceding just four and finishing with 4-0-27-3.

With 44 needed off 12, it was always going to be an uphill task and the home team managed just 22 as KKR won the match by 21 runs.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore stand-in captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change to the starting XI as Harshal Patel replaced Faf du Plessis. Faf du Plessis, Finn Allen, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma and Anuj Rawat made it to the home team’s substitutes list.

Kolkata Knight Riders made one change to the starting eleven as Venkatesh Iyer and Vaibhav Arora replaced Suyash Sharma and Kulwant Khejroliya. They named Mandeep Singh, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Litton Das and Kulwant Khejroliya as their substitutes.

Jason Roy carried forward his good form and got KKR off to a flier. Roy showed his attacking intent straight away as he charged down the track third ball and smacked a drive wide of mid on for a four, off Siraj. One more followed in the over as Roy drove this one with better timing wide of mid off for the second four of the over. He along with N Jagadeesan unfurled a slew of straight and cover drives and then went after David Willey, hitting a couple of fours and a six to make it 17 off the over.

Virat Kohli then introduced spin early in the fifth over as he brought on Wanindu Hasaranga. The Sri Lankan all-rounder started off well, giving away just six runs. There was an LBW appeal turned down and RCB opted for a review but replays showed the impact was outside off. Roy went after Shahbaz Ahmed in the next over, thumping four sixes in the over to make it 25 off the over and take the score to 66 at the end of the Powerplay. Roy brought up his fourth IPL fifty off just 22 balls.

RCB clawed back into the match as Jagadeesan, who found it difficult to get going, pulled one straight into the hands of the deep mid-wicket fielder, off Vijaykumar Vyshak and the dangerman Roy was cleaned up by Vyshak in the same over via a brilliant yorker that rattled the leg stump.

Venkatesh Iyer finally released some pressure, hitting the first boundary in 17 balls off Hasaranga and he made it two in the over to take 13 off the 12th over. Vyshak had the opportunity to get his third but Mohd. Siraj dropped Nitish Rana at long off when on 4. The KKR captain made them pay as he cracked a massive six over long off to finish the over. Rana got another lifeline in the two overs later as Harshal Patel dropped him at fine leg.

RCB bowled well in the middle overs and gave away 65/2 from the 7-15 over phase.

Iyer and Rana went after Harshal in the 16th over, smacking a four and a couple of sixes to accumulate 19 off the over and bring up KKR’s 150. Rana took the attack to Vyshak in the next over, hitting two fours and a six to make it 17 from the over.

Hasaranga then came back and bowled a brilliant over to send back Nitish Rana (48 off 21) and Venkatesh Iyer (31 off 26) and give away just two runs to finish an excellent spell of 4-0-24-2.

Rinku Singh arrived and went berserk, hitting a six and a couple of fours off Siraj. The RCB pacer bounced back, cleaning up Andre Russell with a terrific yorker off the last ball of the over. David Wiese provided the final surge hitting a couple of sixes off Harshal to take the score to 200/5.

RCB introduced Faf du Plessis as their Impact Player, replacing Harshal Patel while KKR brought on Suyash Sharma as their Impact player in place of Jason Roy at the start of the second innings.