Phil Salt (PTI)
BENGALURU: A ruthless fifty by Venkatesh Iyer worked as the catalyst for Kolkata Knight Riders’ smooth seven-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL match here on Friday.
Venkatesh’s 50 of 30 balls (3x4, 4x6) and stunning blitzes by openers Sunil Narine (47, 22b, 2x4, 5x6) and Phil Salt (30, 20b, 2x4, 2x6) propelled the Knight Riders past the 183-run target that the RCB set, which was built around Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 83. The KKR batters never got bogged down either by a slow pitch or RCB bowlers as they hunted down the target in just 16.5 overs.
Their approach on the night was best exemplified by Venkatesh, who is trying hard to regain his relevance in white ball formats, who added 75 runs for the third wicket with skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 not out).
The left-hander found his range from the word go, as pacer Alzarri Joseph suffered the brunt of his aggressive intentions. He biffed the West Indian quick for 20 runs in an over that contained two sixes over cover and mid-wicket and a steered four to third man, besides a leg-bye boundary.
Shreyas, who was dropped on five by Yash Dayal off highly impressive local pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar (1/23), just had the supporting role on this night.
But for that crisp win, the KKR should profusely thank Narine and Salt, who subjugated RCB bowlers in the Power Play with astonishing power-hitting.
The visitor’s chase began frenetically as Narine and Salt added 86 runs in just 6.3 overs through an array of dazzling shots. Salt started the carnage, smoking pacer Mohammed Siraj for 18 runs in the very first over, finding two sixes and a four.
Narine followed suit. After smashing Joseph for two sixes in the third over, the left-hander vandalised the figures of left-arm pacer Dayal, clobbering him for 21 runs, including a four and two sixes in three consecutive balls in the sixth over.
It required a yorker from left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar to break the opening wicket partnership as Narine failed to block the full-length delivery on the off-stump.
But by then, he had done his job. Earlier, Kohli’s unbeaten fifty formed the foundation of RCB’s competitive 182 for six.
Kohli (83, 59b, 4x4, 4x6) and Cameron Green (33 off 21b) milked 65 runs off 42 balls for the second wicket, the primary alliance in RCB innings, as the home side produced a two-faced effort on a track that was on the slower side. An archetypal Dinesh Karthik cameo (20, 8b, 3x6) added gravitas to the RCB total as usual towards the end.
BRIEF SCORES: RCB 182/6 in 20 overs (V Kohli 83*) lost to KKR 186/3 in 16.5 overs (V Iyer 50, S Narine 47)