Kolkata Knight Riders steamroller Royal Challengers Bangalore in 81-run drubbing

Varun Chakravarthy picked up 4 for 15 as RCB were skittled for 123 while there were half-centuries for Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57 off 44) and Shardul Thakur (68 off 29)

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders 204-7, Royal Challengers Bangalore 123 – Kolkata Knight Riders won by 81 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders made light work of Royal Challengers Bangalore, romping to an 81-run victory at Eden Gardens.

Batting first, the Knight Riders lost Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh and Nitish Rana early in their innings to slip to 47 for 3. David Willey (2 for 16) struck with consecutive deliveries to remove Iyer and Singh in the fourth over while Rana was caught behind off Michael Bracewell in the seventh.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57 off 44) and Andre Russell also departed in quick succession in the 12th over before Shardul Thakur burst into life, smashing 63 runs off 26 balls as part of a 103-run stand (47 balls) with Rinku Singh.

^{Varun Chakravarthy picked up four wickets}

Both he and Singh departed in the final two overs – Singh removed by Harshal Patel for 46 (33) and Thakur falling for 68 (29) at the hands of Mohammed Siraj – but not before they had propelled their side to the brink of 200. KKR finished their 20 overs on 204 for 7.

In reply, RCB started brightly through Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, with the pair sharing a 44-run opening stand.

However, when Kohli was bowled by Sunil Narine in the fifth, RCB imploded, losing five wickets in a little over four overs to slump to 61 for 5. Varun Chakravarthy (4 for 15) struck three times to remove du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Patel while Narine picked up his second with the wicket of Shahbaz Ahmed.

A 22-run stand between Dinesh Karthik and Bracewell briefly stemmed the flow of wickets before Bracewell’s departure triggered another collapse. Anuj Rawat, Karthik and Karn Sharma fell one after another to reduce RCB to 96 for 9.

However, a face-saving 27-run partnership between Willey and Akash Deep ensured their side at least made it into three figures before Chakravarthy wrapped up the win.