Royal Challengers Bangalore hosted Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the 17th game of the season. The two batting-heavy sides produced a high-scoring game that ended in favor of the visitors. Once again, it was Andre Russell who powered them home.
KKR decided to field first after winning the toss. Virat Kohli was determined to do well and he struck some delightful boundaries early on. The score was up as Parthiv Patel played the perfect foil for his captain. After the powerplay, the hosts reached 53/0.
The visitors found the first breakthrough when Nitish Rana trapped Parthiv for 25 in the 8th over. But it meant that AB de Villiers walked in to join Kohli in the middle. After clearing the initial jitters, de Villiers hit his stripes. All of a sudden, there were fireworks from either end. Kohli reached his fifty and the score read 108/1 after 13 overs.
There was absolutely no stopping the duo as, after 17 overs, they reached 172/1. Kohli was nearing a century but Kuldeep managed to dismiss him for 84 from 49 balls. But AB kept going and his knock of 63 from 32 balls enabled RCB to reach a huge score of 205/3.
KKR’s chase began with 17 runs from the first over of Tim Southee. Sunil Narine, who was back in the side as the opener, couldn’t accelerate and fell in the next over courtesy Navdeep Saini. But Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn kept the runs flowing as after 6 overs, the visitors reached 59/1 after 6 overs.
Uthappa was shaping up well but Pawan Negi ended his stay in the 10th over for 33. Nitish Rana was the new man at the crease to partner Lynn. But the Australian batsman departed for 43 courtesy of Pawan Negi. After 13 overs, KKR reached 114/3 and the Men in Purple and Gold were well and truly in with a chance.
Rana got out for 37 in the 16th over Karthik departed for 19 in the 17th over. KKR needed 53 from the last 3 overs. But Andre Russell was still out there and once more, he punished the opposition with his brutal hitting. The right-hander scored 48 from just 13 balls that included 7 sixes and a four. He brought his side home with 5 balls to spare.
RCB vs KKR Match Summary
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bowl first
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 205/3 in 20 overs
Virat Kohli 84 (49), AB de Villiers 63 (32)
Sunil Narine 30/1 (4), Kuldeep Yadav 31/1 (4)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 206/5 in 19.1 overs
Andre Russell 48* (13), Chris Lynn 43 (31)
Pawan Negi 21/2 (3.1), Navdeep Saini 34/2 (4)
Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets
Player of the Match: Andre Russell
Andre Russell rules Twitter all over again
Any asking rate is child’s play for Andre Russell . What a victory ! #RCBvsKKR
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 5, 2019
And you guys in the Dugout who said game/set/& match……u may know your cricket but you don’t know @Russell12A !!! WOW u CHAMPION. This calls for Wine my MuscleMan!
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 5, 2019
Despite scoring 205 and looking in control of their defense for the most part, #RCB lose their 5th game in a row. Just one reason – hurricane #AndreRussell #Russell #RCBvKKR #KKR
— Kaushik LM (@LMKMovieManiac) April 5, 2019
No other way to say it: Andre Russell has knocked the stuffing out of RCB. He’s a beast when it comes to striking a cricket ball!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 5, 2019
Has to be the scariest in world cricket #DreRuss
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/ranveerofficial/status/1114231473131802625?s=12
Nobody can bat like this. Period @Russell12A #KKRvsRCB
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 5, 2019
What should @imVkohli do to win a T20 match? #AndreRussell
— Sachin Kalbag (@SachinKalbag) April 5, 2019
Andre Russell’s mathematics teacher’s big complaint was that he only learnt the 6 multiplication table.
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) April 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/priyaadivarekar/status/1114229768759562240
https://twitter.com/chopraanjum/status/1114231226024386560?s=19
That was unreal from Andre Russell #RCBvKKR
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 5, 2019
Highest targets successfully chased against RCB in IPL:
206 – CSK at Chepauk in 2012
206 – CSK at Bangalore in 2018
206 – KKR at Bangalore in 2019*This is also KKR's highest successfully chased target in IPL. Prev. 200 against KXIP at Bangalore in 2014.#RCBvsKKR
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 5, 2019
Congratulations @KKRiders and @iamsrk Keep winning
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 5, 2019
This man can win anything from anywhere this @IPL some hitting from @Russell12A Siraj played into his hands after the two dot balls. He will want to forget this in a hurry.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 5, 2019
All the RCB players are smiling while shaking hands with Russell. They know it was superlatively special. Any better word? Am struggling 😔 #RCBvKKR
— Vimal कुमार (@Vimalwa) April 5, 2019
A game Siraj would want to forget #RCBvKKR
— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) April 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/TheVishnuVishal/status/1114229785947860992
HOW DOES HE DO IT? HE HAS HIT 3 SIXES IN 3 BALLS! DRE RUSSS EVERYONE! WOWWW!#RCBvKKR #VIVOIPL #KKRHaiTaiyaar
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 5, 2019
#AndreRussell! 7 sixes!!! Just terrific. Only he could have done it. #RCBvsKKR
— Athar Aamir Khan (@AtharAamirKhan) April 5, 2019
Highest batting SR in an IPL innings: (Min.40 runs scored)
372.72 – AB de Villiers v MI, Bangalore, 2015 (41 off 11)
369.23 – ANDRE RUSSELL v RCB, Bangalore, 2019* (48* off 13)
348.00 – Suresh Raina v KXIP, Mumbai, 2014 (87 off 25)#RCBvKKR— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 5, 2019
He is simply magnificent, what can U say more about a guy who scores bulk of his runs through SIXer’s!
— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) April 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/LMKMovieManiac/status/1114229356958703616
https://twitter.com/SharadK7/status/1114231653315039232
Andre Russell
Before Mohammad Siraj's beamer: 1(4)
After that: 47 (9)
Hit 7 sixes and 1 four – 8 boundary strokes out of 9 balls!
Against KXIP was out bowled but there were 3 fielders inside the circle. Ended up 48 (17)
What a hitter@KKRiders #RCBvsKKR #RCBvKKR
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 5, 2019
