IPL 2023: Kolkata Beats Banglore By 21 Runs; KKR’s Victory After Four Consecutive Losses

Bengaluru, 26th April 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 21 runs in the 36th match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. KKR had set a challenge of 201 runs for victory against RCB.

Virat Kohli hit a powerful half-century and took RCB to a hundred in the first 10 overs. But KKR made a strong comeback in the match and stopped RCB’s strong batting line-up for 179 runs. Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets for 27 runs in four overs, while Suyash Sharma and Andre Russell took two wickets each.

RCB has easily chased down scores past 200 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium many times. Even though KKR set a challenge of 201 in today’s match, RCB seemed to be able to cross that score comfortably. But KKR’s Suyash Sharma pushed RCB on the back foot in the power play itself. He dismissed Faf du Plessis (17) and Shahbaz Ahmed (2).

After this, it was the responsibility of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to take RCB’s innings forward. But Varun Chakravarthy ended Maxwell’s innings within five runs resulting in RCB’s score to 58 runs for three wickets.

On the other side, Virat Kohli was struggling alone. Finally, he got the support of Mahipal Lomror. The duo put on a half-century partnership for the fourth wicket. But Mahipal was dismissed after scoring 34 runs off 18 balls. Meanwhile, Virat, who fought alone, completed his half-century. But Andre Russell ended Virat Kohli’s innings of 54 runs.

After this, KKR started to strengthen their grip on the match. Dinesh Karthik countered with 22 off 18 balls. But Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, and other RCB batsmen did not fare well. Finally, RCB’s innings ended at 179 for eight wickets in 20 overs. KKR snapped their four-game losing streak with this win and secured seventh place in the points table by scoring six points.