KKR vs RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore 132 for 7 (Rutherford 28, Shahbaz 27, Southee 3-20, Umesh 2-16) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 128 (Russell 25, Hasaranga 4-20, ...

A drive between the bowler and mid-on off the next ball ended the game, bringing much relief to an anxious RCB dugout. Harshal made them pay with two fours in the second half of that 19th over, bowled by Venkatesh: a scoop over short fine leg and a flat-batted club to bisect long-on and deep midwicket. It left seven to get off the last over, and Russell, still clutching his shoulder gingerly, volunteered to bowl it. Umesh and Southee came back to give away just eight off the next two overs, leaving RCB needing 36 off 30. And the pressure eventually led Willey to attempt a forcing shot only to pop a catch to midwicket. Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee reduced RCB to 17 for 3 in their chase, but the smallness of the target allowed RCB to take their time. With 24 needed off 18, they seemed in control, but KKR made an attacking bowling change, bringing Southee on in the 18th. Virat Kohli came in and stroked the first two balls he faced for sublimely timed boundaries, but Umesh had his revenge in his next over, getting one to nip away from Kohli, who fiddled and nicked behind. Shreyas Iyer took on Hasaranga in the first over with the fields spread out, and picked out long-on. RCB went into this match with four fast bowlers, and it turned out they had read the surface well.Akash Deepmade two early incisions with his bouncer to the left-hander, angling across them and not always reaching them at a predictable pace or height. This has been an IPL of quick pitches with early movement, and fast bowlers have never had it better in the powerplay. KKR vs RCB ended up heavily influenced by powerplay wickets, with the two sets of fast bowlers bagging three each in that phase.