Navi Mumbai: Two crucial boundaries by Harshal Patel in the 19th over and then a six by Dinesh Karthik of the first ball of the 20th over helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) scrape past Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by three wickets in their IPL encounter here Wednesday. In the end Karthik remained unbeaten on 14 while Patel stayed undefeated for 10 to take their side over the one.
Chasing 129 for victory, RCB started shakily and were reduced to 17 for 3 with both skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli (12) back in the pavilion. However, even though the middle-order struggled against the KKR spinners, they managed to stall the downfall and take RCB towards the target before Karthik and Patel gave the finishing touches.
For KKR, Rim Southee (3/20) and Umesh Yadav (2/15) bowled outstanding spells. However, Andre Russell (none for 36 in 2.2 overs) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/33) gave away too many runs while defending a small total.
Earlier Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (4/20) bowled brilliantly to restrict KKR to a total less than 130. Hasaranga lived up to his Rs 10.75 crore price tag as he bowled a fantastic spell. The 24-year-old was ably supported by the pace trio of Akash Deep (3/45), Patel (2/11) and Mohammed Siraj (1/25) after RCB opted to bowl after winning the toss.
KKR batters, on the other hand, paid the price for going for shots too many despite losing wickets at regular intervals at DY Patil Stadium here. The two-time former champions lost six wickets for 57 runs to slip from 44 for 3 to 101 for 9 in 14.3 overs.
Russell (25, 18b, 1×4, 3×6) was the highest scorer for KKR. Umesh Yadav (18) and Varun Chakravarthy (10 n o) added 27 runs for the last wicket, the highest partnership for KKR, to provide some respectability to the total.
Hasaranga picked up with wickets of KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer (13), Sunil Narine (12), Sheldon Jackson (0) and Tim Southee (1). Most of the KKR batters failed to ran him as the Sri Lankan ran through the opposition middle-order.
Brief scores: KKR 128 in 18.5 overs (Andre Russell 25, Wanindu Hasaranga 4/20, Akash Deep 3/45, Harshal Patel 2/11) lost to RCB 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 28, Tim Southee 3/20) by three wickets.
