After bowling the Knight Riders out for 128, RCB faltered in their chase, slipping to 111 for 7 before Dinesh Karthik saw them over the line with four balls to spare
Navi Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders 128, Royal Challengers Bangalore 132-7 – Royal Challengers Bangalore won by three wickets
Faf du Plessis picked up his first win as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain as his side edged Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets in a low-scoring clash in Navi Mumbai.
Batting first, KKR were in trouble early on, losing Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana inside the powerplay to slip to 44 for 3.
Shreyas Iyer, Sunril Narine and Sheldon Jackson – the latter pair falling to Wanindu Hasaranga in the space of two balls – also departed before drinks while Andre Russell was the only player to find any joy against RCB’s bowlers, top-scoring for his side with 25 off 18.
Akash Deep celebrates dismissing Venkatesh Iyer
KKR were all out for 128 with seven balls to spare, with Hasaranga’s 4 for 20 doing much of the damage. Harshal Patel also impressed, bowling two maidens on his way to figures of 2 for 11, while Akash Deep picked up three wickets but conceded over a third of KKR’s runs.
In reply, RCB suffered their own early losses, with their entire top three departing inside 13 balls.
Having recovered from 17 for 3 to reach three figures in the 16th over with six wickets in hand, du Plessis’ side appeared on course for victory.
However, a flurry of wickets from Varun Chakravarthy and Tim Southee left RCB wobbling on 111 for 7 heading into the final two overs.
Fortunately, Patel and Dinesh Karthik kept their cool, with the veteran wicketkeeper crunching a six and a four off the first two deliveries of the final over to collect the two points.