Sharjah: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were a completely different side than what their fans have witnessed so far as they comfortably defended their first-innings score of 194/2 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) here in their IPL game, Monday.
AB de Villiers (73 n o, 33b, 5×4, 6×6) was at his best in a magnificent batting display, which powered RCB to 194/2. Then the Virat Kohli-led side, who have struggled while defending targets, were excellent with the ball as well. They restricted KKR to 112/9, sealing an 82-run win.
Chasing a massive 195, KKR struggled to get going throughout their innings against a disciplined RCB bowling attack. Shubman Gill (34, 25b, 3×4, 1×6) was the top scorer for the losing side, while only two other batsmen – Andre Russell (16) and Rahul Tripathi (16) – could reach double figures.
For the Bangalore outfit, offie Washington Sundar (2/20) and pacer Chris Morris (2/17) shared four wickets between them. The other four bowlers, used by Kohli, got a wicket each.
Earlier, De Villiers looked effortless in finding the gaps in the company of skipper Virat Kohli (33 n o, 28b, 1×4) as the duo put together an unbroken third wicket stand of 100 runs from 7.4 overs to take the team out of a middle-over muddle.
On a pitch that was slowing down, spinner Varun Chakravarthy bowled a tidy 0/25 from four overs, while young pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti (0/36) cleverly mixed up his deliveries with cutters to put brakes on RCB midway their innings.
Opener Aaron Finch (47, 37b, 4×4, 1×6) looked sluggish in the middle and struggled to find boundaries before being castled by M Prasidh Krishna (1/42).
With boundaries drying up, De Villiers unleashed his array of shots, racing to his fifty in 23 balls as RCB cruised to 83 runs from the last five overs to prop up the total.
This was after RCB openers Finch and Devdutt Padikkal (32) started off in a blazing fashion. But boundaries soon dried up after the Powerplay with Russell giving the breakthrough by cleaning up Padikkal with a fuller delivery.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 194/2 (AB de Villiers 73 n o, Aaron Finch 47, Virat Kohli 33 n o, Devdutt Padikkal 32) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 112/9 (Shubman Gill 34; Chris Morris 2/17, Washington Sundar 2/20) by 82 runs.