Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 185 to defeat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday. This was Bangalore's third straight defeat on the trot.
Two contrasting innings of 52 runs from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli each gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a steady start, but some late-order hitting gave them a challenging score of 185/7. Kolkata Knight Riders gave away 73 runs in the last five overs with Shane Watson (34 off 21), Sachin Baby (16 off eight) and Stuart Binny (16 off four), all making merry. Umesh Yadav came in for special punishment, conceding 56 runs for a wicket off his four overs.
When it was their turn to bowl, Royal Challengers Bangalore's much maligned bowling unit looked like they had the game in control when they left Kolkata Knight Riders reeling at 69/4, with the required run rate close to 11 per over. However Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell came together to play a blinder. The two put on a 96-run partnership in just 44 balls with 68 of those runs coming between overs 15 and 18. Russell was dismissed for a 24-ball 39, which included four huge sixes, but Pathan remained unbeaten with a match-winning unbeaten 60 off 29 balls as Kolkata Knight Riders reached home with five wickets in hand.
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