A large part of Saturday evening seemed to reiterate the local fans’ worst nightmare — the probability of a washed out match. But thankfully the rain stopped in the nick of time and a 10-over-per-side contest was dished out.
Bengalurians were rewarded for their loyalty as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League match here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chasing KKR’s 111 for four, RCB scored 115 for three in 9.4 overs with Mandeep Singh (45 not out) being the star.
ADVERTISEMENT
RCB found its initial adrenaline during the second over in which skipper Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle caned Umesh Yadav for 18.
Kohli scattered Pat Cummins and no one was spared as Gayle hoisted Brad Hogg twice into the stands. The spinner nailed Gayle in the same over but with a huge roar greeting A.B. de Villiers, there seemed no respite for the visitor. However, Piyush Chawla stunned the crowd into silence as he had the South African chopping the ball on to his stumps.
Just as a lull descended on the RCB innings, Mandeep clouted Hogg and Chawla. Even as the accelerator was being pressed, Kohli succumbed to Andre Russell.
ADVERTISEMENT
It boiled down to 25 off 12 deliveries and Umesh Yadav’s yorkers threatened to stifle the host but Mandeep hit two fours and RCB needed 12 off the last over.
Russell yielded 1 and 2 and just as the RCB dugout turned nervous, Mandeep was at it again. Two consecutive sixes, one over third-man and another over fine-leg, helped the host finally secure its maiden home triumph, this season.
Earlier, the summer showers that drenched the venue shortly after Kohli won the toss and elected to field, stayed away once the game got going at 6.45 p.m. KKR openers Robin Uthappa and captain Gautam Gambhir drove some past the ropes before the latter perished as Mandeep plucked a stunning one-handed overhead catch at point.
Andre Russell (45) then turned on the heat while Uthappa wavered between fluid drives and the inner-edge that missed the stumps. The West Indian prospered with hefty strikes in the sixth over bowled by Varun Aaron. To make it worse for the speedster, a sprinting Kohli dropped Uthappa at long-on as 17 runs came off that over.
Russell wasn’t finished yet and after thumping Yuzvendra Chahal, he cut the spinner past two rooted fielders, who had no time to react. In the rush for rapid runs, Uthappa miscued and the top-edge descended into Dinesh Karthik’s gloves.
The wicketkeeper was in the thick of action as he effected a run out off Russell and while Ryan ten Doeschate and Yusuf Pathan hammered a six each, RCB did well in the final over that Mitchell Starc bowled.
The Aussie conceded just nine, grabbed a wicket and was unlucky not to have scalped Yusuf as his full-toss was adjudged above waist-height and hence deemed a no-ball. It was a marginal call but Starc had done his bit for RCB in an abridged match of wafer-thin margins.