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Kolkata Knight Riders 206 for 5 (Russell 48*, Lynn 43, Nana 37, Uttappa 33, Negi 2-21) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 205 for 3 (Kohli 84, de Villiers 63) by five wickets
Bengaluru: Andre Russell’s breathtaking 48 off 13 balls powered Kolkata to their third win of the tournament at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Friday.
KKR beat RCB by five wickets. In a match where more than 400 runs were scored by the two teams, it was Russell’s cameo which turned out to be the difference between the two sides.
Batting first, RCB scored 205/3 courtesy of Virat Kohli’s fine 84.
In reply, KKR were in trouble needing 66 runs off 24 balls. But Russell came in and smashed an unbeaten 48 off 13 balls to complete the job with five balls to spare.
While KKR have won three out of their four games, RCB have lost all their five matches.
Russell came out to bat with KKR needing 67 off 26 balls. Skipper Dinesh Karthik (19) got out in the next over and in the last three overs, the away side needed 53 runs off 18 balls.
It is from there that Russell took over, smacking seven sixes and a four to help KKR win with five balls to spare. KKR posted 206/5, their highest run-chase in IPL history. RCB, thus, remained winless after five games.
Russell hit Marcus Stoinis for three back to back sixes in the 18th over and then took on Tim Southee with figures reading 6-6-6-4-6 to leave the visitors needing just one run from the last over. He associated with Shubman Gill (3 not out) to put together a 14-ball 53 run stand for the sixth wicket.
It poured cold water on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers' show in the first innings as the pair roared back to form to help RCB post 205/3.
Chasing 206 for victory, Chris Lynn (43; 31b 4x4; 2x6) and Sunil Narine (10) gave KKR flying start. Narine did not last long, Navdeep Saini (2/34) getting rid of him.
But Robin Uthappa (33; 25b 6x4) joined hands with Lynn to add 65 runs for the second wicket. But just before the halfway stage, Uthappa lost his wicket trying to clear long off where Tim Southee took the catch off Pawan Negi (2/21).=
Lynn was dropped on 42 by Mohammed Siraj off Stoinis in the 11th over, but there was not much damage done as Negi castled him with a terrific delivery that spun heavily to beat the Australian’s outside edge.
It looked over for KKR from there on before Russell took it upon himself to finish the game in a way only he can.
Earlier, Put in to bat, Kohli struck a 49-ball 84 (4x9, 6x2) while De Villiers hit a 32-ball 63 (4x5, 6x4) as the famed pair stitched together a 108-run stand for the second wicket to treat the packed crowd at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to a spectacle as RCB posted 205/3 in 20 overs.
Kohli was dropped by Narine on 35 while Lockie Ferguson could not hold on to a tough De Villiers catch when he was batting on 11.
The duo made the most of their second lives and with Stoinis hitting a 13-ball 28, RCB scored 127 runs in the last 10 overs with the last over from Prasidh Krishna going for 18 runs.
