Jason Roy smashed 56 from just 29 balls to set the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders up for a formidable total of 200 for five and victory by 21 runs after being asked to bat first in their IPL match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The England opener was especially effective in the Power Play, driving, pulling and slog-sweeping his way to four fours and five sixes before being bowled around his legs by seamer Vijaykumar Vyshak at the end of the 10th over.
Chasing 201 for victory the Royal Challengers were always behind the asking rate once Faf du Plessis was caught on the long-on boundary for 17 off just seven balls (1x4, 2x6) and lost wickets regularly in their attempt to keep up.
Virat Kohli contributed 54 from 37 balls with six fours but the leg-spinning duo of Suyash Sharma (2-30) and Varun Chakravarthy (3-27) were too smart for the home side and victory was completed with rare comfort in a season of close finishes. Andre Russell’s wonky knees held up for four overs to earn him 2-29.
Earlier, despite a sluggish 27 from 29 balls by fellow opener N.Jagadeesan and an unconvincing 31 from 26 by Venkatesh Iyer. KKR’s batting momentum was maintained by captain Nitish Rana who was in glorious form with 48 from a mere 21 deliveries (3x4, 4x6) before top-edging a reverse-sweep against legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga to third short.
Rinku Singh provided some fireworks at the end with 18 from 10 balls and former Protea David Wiese (12 off 3 balls) brought up the 200 by hitting two of the final deliveries of the innings over the legside boundary.
Hasaranga (4-0-24-2) was RCB’s standout bowler but their decision to give Shahbaz Ahmed one over (0-25) did not pay dividends.
The home side remain one of four teams on eight points, two behind log-leaders Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, but the visitors, who lost their preceding four games and were languishing at the bottom of the log with just four points along with Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Delhi Capitals, have moved to within two points of the mid-table logjam.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Virat Kohli (captain), Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: N Jagadeesan (wkt), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (captain), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Vaibhav Arora, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy