Royal Challengers Bangalore won against Rising Pune Supergiants by seven wickets at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday. RCB captain Virat Kohli helped his team with his second century this tournament as they chased down the the Pune team's score of 191/6. The Bangalore team played a great innings and made 195/3. "I was pumped up for this match! This was a crunch game for us. We need to win 6 out of 7 matches to qualify for the knockouts. I was determined to play till the end," Man of the Match Virat Kohli said.
Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and captain Virat Kohli opted to bowl first, saying that the pitch looked good. RCB is hoping to break a losing streak - they have had three consecutive losses in a row. With only two wins this series, they are seventh on the eight-team points table. Chris Jordan made his IPL debut with RCB in this match.
Usman Khawaja was run out early on in the third over and replaced by Saurabh Tiwary. Ajinkya Rahane managed to score his 23rd fifty thanks to some misfielding and dropped catches by RCB. At the halfway mark, Pune were at 89 runs for one wicket, and they had reached 100 by the 12th over of the innings.
Tiwary, who was dropped thrice during the match, also scored a 50. Dhoni came out to bat in the 14th over, but was quick to lose his wicket to Parvez Rasool, who caught him out. He made 9 runs off 8 balls. However, Ajinkya Rahane and Saurabh Tiwary’s brilliant 106-run partnership led RPS to a strong score of 191/6 by the end of the first innings.
RCB started slow, managing to score only seven runs from the first two overs of the second innings. Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul opened for the Bangalore team against Pune’s Ashok Dinda and RP Singh. By the end of the fourth over, RCB had made 25 runs with no losses. The team picked up pace soon with Kohli and Rahul securing a few successive sixes and fours, taking the team's score to 70 by the end of the ninth over. Halfway through the second innings, Kohli and Rahul looked focused and firm at 81, giving a tough time to the Pune bowlers.
The partnership was finally broken in the 11th over when Rahul was caught out by George Bailey. He made 38 runs off 35 balls. The team lost A B de Villiers soon after who went back after making only one run. Pune's Adam Zampa had much reason to cheer as he bagged two big wickets in one over almost back-to-back. A B de Villiers was caught at long off by Thisara Perera, and was replaced by Shane Watson.
The Australian all-rounder made 20 off the first over at the crease, but was quickly dismissed by Singh's LBW appeal. He made a whopping 36 runs off 13 balls. Kohli secured his second century of this tournament with 102 runs from 56 balls by the end of the 19th over, sealing victory for his team. RCB made 195/3 and won the match.
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