Knight Riders steamroll RCB by nine wickets; Russell among wickets

Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy and Lockie Ferguson shared the spoils as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by nine wickets in Match 31 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

After bowling out RCB for 92, KKR chased down the target, with 10 overs to spare and bagged two points.

Gill scored a quickfire 48 off 34 balls with the help of 6 fours and a six while Iyer, who was making his IPL debut, put an impressive show with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 41 off 27 balls.

The KKR openers did not look at any discomfort and went about their business in some style. The pair completed a fifty-run stand in the sixth over as KKR scored 56 at the end of the powerplay.

While Gill fell in the 10th over, Iyer hammered three fours in the same over to help KKR seal a comprehensive win.

Earlier, Virat Kohli – playing his 200th IPL game – won the toss and elected to bat.

KKR struck early as Prasidh Krishna scalped the big wicket for Kohli in the second over, trapping the RCB skipper before the wickets.

Devdutt Padikkal and KS Bharat then added 31 runs for the second wicket but the partnership was broken as Lockie Ferguson dismissed the left-hander on the final ball of the Powerplay.

Andre Russell then joined the wicket-taking party, with his double-wicket over. The West Indian, first had KS Bharat caught in the deep in the ninth over and then had the prized scalp of AB de Villiers, disturbing the timber to reduce RCB to 51-4.

Varun Chakaravarthy then came to the party and picked three wickets and effected a run-out as KKR ran through the RCB batting line-up. While the mystery spinner missed out on a hat-trick, he dismissed Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga and Sachin Baby and returned with the figures of 3-13 from his four overs.

Ferguson and Russell then picked a wicket each as KKR bowled out RCB for 92. (IPL)