Spinner Sunil Narine proved to be the stand-out performer with a four-wicket haul as Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets in an IPL game here on Sunday to keep their faint hopes of reaching the playoffs alive.
Opting to field, KKR restricted RCB to 115/9, and then chased down the target with four balls to spare at the JSCA International Stadium Complex. Narine finished with impressive figures of 4/22 off his four overs while Jacques Kallis and Lakshmipathy Balaji picked two wickets apiece. Kallis also top-scored for the ‘hosts’, playing a responsible knock (41 off 45 balls). Manoj Tiwary contributed 24 off 27 balls.
After doing a good job with the ball, KKR were dealt an early blow as Manvinder Bisla was sent back by Ravi Rampaul in their innings’ first over. Skipper Gautam Gambhir and Kallis steadied the ship with a 31-run partnership for the second wicket.
In the fourth over bowled by Abhimanyu Mithun, the KKR skipper scored three successive boundaries — all through the off-side, with the first one almost going all the way. However, what was turning out to be a promising stand, was cut short as R. Vinay Kumar induced a thick outside edge from the blade of Gambhir for Chris Gayle, the lone slip fielder, to pouch the offering.
Yusuf Pathan arrived, and straightaway got into the groove, hitting Murali Kartik’s tossed up delivery for a massive six over long-on. But, as had been the case in the past, Pathan again got out after getting a start, trapped in front by Murali Kartik.
Kallis was going steady at the other end, helping the hosts close in on the target. The South African veteran though, got out when KKR were 20 runs short. After hitting Mithun for two fours in as many balls, Kallis, to KKR’s fans’ dismay, played one towards Moises Henriques who did not make any errors completing the catch running backwards. Tiwary followed Kallis as he played Vinay Kumar towards cover for Virat Kohli to pull off a difficult catch. Needing five off the last over, Ryan ten Doeschate sealed the win with a boundary.
Earlier, on a slow wicket, RCB batsmen struggled to score freely. Gayle found the going tough, hitting just one four and a six for his 33, before being stumped off Narine’s bowling. AB de Villiers was the next best scorer with a 22-ball 28. Attempting a reverse sweep off Balaji immediately after hitting the paceman for a six in the 16th over, the South African found a faint edge and Bisla took a well-judged catch.
Apart form Gayle, Narine accounted for the wickets of Saurabh Tiwary (1), Rampaul (0) and Mithun (2).
Gambhir began with spinner Sachitra Senanayake and Balaji, the two providing a superb start by giving away just 16 runs in the first five overs. Senanayake dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara in the fifth over. Narine and Kallis were introduced in the attack and they were successful in keeping Gayle and Virat Kohli quiet.
The runs came in ones and twos with KKR bowlers not allowing the batsmen to swing their arms freely. Kohli and Gayle smashed Ryan ten Doeschate for 14 runs for RCB’s best over.
Kallis then dealt RCB a blow when he bowled Kohli, who dragged one back onto his stumps, as Bangalore managed just 54/2 in 10 overs. The story remained the same in the next 10 overs and whenever the batsmen tried to cut loose, they ended up losing their wickets.