Jason Roy of Kolkata Knight Riders hits a shot during the IPL T20 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 26, 2023, as captured in an AFP photograph.
On Wednesday, Kolkata Knight Riders secured a 21-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore with the help of Jason Roy and captain Nitish Rana, which helped to revive their struggling Indian Premier League campaign.
Roy scored his second consecutive half-century and Rana contributed a 21-ball 48 to help Kolkata, who were asked to bat first in Bengaluru, reach a total of 200-5.
Varun Chakravarthy, the leg-spinner, helped Kolkata end their four-match losing streak by taking three wickets for 27 runs, as Bangalore was restricted to a score of 179-8.
Kolkata has moved up to seventh place in the 10-team table as the league approaches the halfway mark and teams compete for the four playoff spots.
Rana stated that it takes a strong character in the dressing room to perform well in their current situation, but their team has always believed that they will recover.
Chakravarthy, who received the award for the best player, had good assistance from Suyash Sharma and Andre Russell who both took two wickets each in the game.
Venkatesh Iyer made an impressive catch in the outfield to dismiss Virat Kohli, which resulted in the home crowd becoming quiet.
Kohli was leading Bangalore for the third time in a row, as regular captain Faf du Plessis was injured. Kohli tried to start the chase in his 37-ball innings.
After Du Plessis hit two sixes and was dismissed for 17, Bangalore’s batting performance declined. Additionally, Glenn Maxwell was dismissed for five runs.
Kohli admitted that they gave away the game and they deserved to lose.
We did not meet the expected level of performance. During the game, we missed opportunities that would have helped us gain 25-30 runs.
Kolkata achieved a challenging score with Roy’s impressive performance, hitting five sixes in just 29 balls, and partnering with Narayan Jagadeesan to begin with a score of 83.
Both Rana and Iyer were dismissed in the same over, but Rana survived two dropped catches and he and Iyer had a partnership of 80 runs for the third wicket.
Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka took two wickets in the 18th over, dismissing the left-handed batsmen Rana and Iyer, and finished with figures of 2-24.
Despite Bangalore’s efforts to prevent the opposition from scoring, Rinku Singh and David Wiese managed to hit quick runs towards the end of the game.