Press Trust of India
Ahmedabad, April 24: Skipper Virat Kohli (62 n o, 46b, 1×4, 3×6) blasted his second successive fifty and pacer Mitchell Starc snapped three wickets as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their IPL-VIII encounter at the Sardar Patel Stadium here Friday.
RCB didn’t put a foot wrong as they first dished out a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Rajasthan to 130 for nine and then returned to overhaul the target with 23 balls to spare.
Chasing 131, Bangalore rode on an unbeaten 98-run partnership between Kohli and AB de Villiers (47, 34b, 6×4) for the second wicket to snap their three-match losing streak and hand over Rajasthan their second successive loss.
Earlier, Starc was well supported by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/25) and medium pacer and Harshal Patel (2/23) and the three kept the RR batters on a tight leash.
Chris Gayle (20) and Kohli gave Bangalore a good start with the West Indies batsman blasting three fours and a six. But Shane Watson dismissed Gayle with a slower bouncer which caught him off-guard as he top-edged it to wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.
AB de Villiers then joined Kohli and the South African skipper straight away blasted James Faulkner for a couple of boundaries. Kohli too picked up a six off Pravin Tambe to keep the scoreboard ticking. De Villiers then got into the act hitting Tambe for two boundaries in the bowlers second over.
In the 14th over, Kohli brought up the 100 with a straight drive six off Watson’s first ball and then reached his individual fifty with a single.
Earlier put into bat, Ajinkya Rahane (18) and Watson (26) gave RR a flying start as the duo amassed 36 in five overs before the former was trapped leg before by Patel.
Rahane hit two boundaries and a six in his 12-ball innings, while Watson blasted four fours and a six before his attempt to score another six off Chahal ended with a simple catch at the long-on fence by Starc.
Then wickets started falling in a heap. There were two stages in the RR innings when wickets fell in quick succession. The first when Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson fell within a span of 17 runs. Worst to follow was when Steve Smith, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner and Dhawal Kulkarni fell within nine runs.
Brief scores: RR 130 for 9 (Steve Smith 31, Mitchell Starc 3/22) lost to RCB 134 for one in 16.1 overs (Virat Kohli 62 n o, AB de Villiers 47 n o) by nine wickets.
