IPL 2016: Yusuf Pathan pulverizes RCB at Bengaluru

Brief Scores: RCB 185/7 in 20/20 overs (Rahul 52(32), Kohli 52(44), Morkel 2/28) lost to KKR 189/5 in 19.1/20 overs (Yusuf 60*(29), Russell 39(24), Chahal 2/27) by five wickets

If Umesh Yadav’s horrible bowling at the death, where he gave 41 runs off two overs, was not enough, KKR received another blow in the first over of their chase after Stuart Binny removed his Karnataka team-mate Robin Uthappa. Opening partnerships have been KKR’s strength, but Uthappa’s wicket in the first over brought an end to the hopes of a good start. Aussie Chris Lynn came ahead of local lad Manish Pandey, but did not make much of a difference to the innings as he also left shortly after to leave the side two down in the powerplay.

117 runs were required of the last ten overs for KKR, and it seemed a distant possibility when Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan joined hands in the middle. However, 55 runs came in the next five overs as Russell deposited Shamsi twice in the stands behind the midwicket boundary. The carnage at Chinnaswamy continued as Varun Aaron and Shane Watson faced the brunt of Russell and Pathan with the bowlers going for 16 and 24 runs respectively. All of a sudden, the required run rate nosedived from 11 to 7.6. With just 23 needed off 18 balls, KKR strolled to victory with five balls to spare. 

Earlier, after playing four away matches on the trot, Royal Challengers Bangalore returned to the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru hoping for a win against Kolkata Knight Riders to revive their stuttering IPL campaign. Two-time champions KKR reached Bengaluru on the back of two back-to-back defeats, and with both teams coming off losses, changes were sure to happen. The home side made four changes with Chris Gayle, Stuart Binny, Sreenath Aravind, and Yuzvendra Chahal coming into the XI, while KKR brought in Chris Lynn, Morne Morkel, and Manish Pandey.

Kohli and Rahul started slowly with singles and twos to keep the scoreboard ticking. However, Sunil Narine’s introduction proved to be a good one for the home side as Rahul went after the West Indies bowler to up the scoring rate. 10 runs came off Narine’s first over as the powerplay ended with 40/1 on the board, but it was just the start for the right-handed batsman. Overshadowing his senior partner at the other end, Rahul found the ropes at will by sending Umesh, Chawla, and Narine to the ropes. The maximums were not far behind as he smashed one each over long-off and deep square leg in the 10th and 11th over respectively to bring up his third consecutive half-century of the season.

The partnership was threatening to take the game away from KKR, but Chawla delivered the much-needed wicket in the 12th over by removing Rahul to end the 84-run stand. Kohli and AB de Villiers formed century partnerships the last two times they played at the Chinnaswamy stadium, but this time, the duo managed just 17 runs together as Chawla trapped the South African right in front of the stumps in the 14th over.