Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered their second defeat in three games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as they suffered a shambolic seven-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, March 29.
After KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first, RCB lost their skipper Faf du Plessis in the second over. Virat Kohli stitched a 65-run partnership with Cameron Green before the latter departed for 33. Glenn Maxwell (28) was dropped twice but he couldn't make KKR pay for it. Rajat Patidar and Anuj Rawat were both dismissed after adding three runs each before Dinesh Karthik played an unbeaten 20-run cameo off eight balls to close out the innings. Kohli carried his bat and finished on 83 off 59 balls, registering his second consecutive half-century. He also received the Orange Cap from Green during the mid-innings break.
RCB finished their innings at 182/6 after 20 overs. While some slower balls from the KKR pacers were gripping, the total still looked a bit short at a venue where defending is very difficult. Eventually, the visitors made light work of the chase as they romped home with 19 balls and seven wickets to spare.
After the one-sided encounter, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at the RCB batters for not providing adequate support to Kohli.
"You tell me how much Kohli will do alone - someone should accompany him, If someone had supported him today, he would definitely have scored 120 instead of 83, so this is team sport not a single man game, he didn't get any support today," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Virat Kohli goes past MS Dhoni's sixes tally in IPL
During his gritty knock, Kohli hit four fours and as many sixes. When the Delhi batter hit his third six, he went past MS Dhoni's tally of 239 IPL sixes. Kohli is now fourth on the list of batters with the most sixes in the IPL, having 241 maximums to his name. The first three spots are occupied by Chris Gayle (357), Rohit Sharma (261), and AB de Villiers (251).
Coming back to the clash, Sunil Narine won the Player of the Match award after he picked up one wicket and scored a blistering 22-ball 47. Venkatesh Iyer scored a delightful half-century while KKR captain Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 39 off 24 balls.
RCB will look to bounce back when they take on Lucknow Super Giants at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday, April 2. KKR, who have won both their matches so far, will be in action on the following day as they take on Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam.
Also Read: IPL 2024: 3 Changes Royal Challengers Bengaluru should make to get back to winning ways
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