IPL10: Narine storm blows RCB away

Bengaluru: The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium saw a shower of sixes and fours as Kolkata Knight Riders inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Royal Challengers Bangalore, thrashing them by six wickets in their IPL-10 here on Sunday.

The Knights guided by a ruthless Sunil Narine (54, 17b, 6x4, 4x6) and flamboyant Chris Lynn (50, 22b, 5x4, 4x6) chased down the 159-run with a whopping 29 balls to spare.

Narine, in particular, was a nightmare for the home team as he scored the tournament’s joint fastest half-century off just 15 balls, joining team mate Yusuf Pathan who had achieved a similar feat in the 2014 edition.

The West Indies all-rounder demolished the home bowlers with six boundaries and four massive sixes in his innings that came off a astonishing strike rate of 227.27. The 28-year-old, finally caught by Kedar Jadhav off an Aniket Choudhury delivery, had already done the damage as the openers brought up 105 for KKR in 37 balls.

Lynn, returning from an injury, showed no signs of trouble as he played a swift knock studded with five fours and four sixes before Pawan Negi sent him back. The explosive partnership of Lynn and Narine was also the highest Powerplay score (105) in the IPL history.

With the groundwork set, a few wickets hardly made a difference as the Knights walked away with the win to solidify their hold on a playoffs berth occupying the second rung on the table while the Challengers remained last.

Earlier after being put into bat, the Challengers got off on the wrong foot from the very onset as Chris Gayle was sent back to the pavilion off the very first delivery.

It looked like RCB were heading for yet another collapse as skipper Virat Kohli (5) and AB de Villiers (10) both too followed soon after. Kohli, who was dropped on two by Piyush Chawla at mid-off, failed to capitalise on his lifeline as Yadav picked up next big scalp, trapping Kohli.

Mandeep Singh then laid the groundwork with a steady 52 off 43 and Travis Head literally turned the home team’s sinking innings on its head to help post a defendable total.

With opener Mandeep playing a patient knock, Head brought in the boundaries hitting Yadav in the last over for 21 runs to help the Challengers post 158/6. Head’s unbeaten 75 came off 47 balls, studded with three fours and five sixes. With this, the Challengers wrapped up their home leg this season with a lone win.