Virat, AB keep it short & sweet

Ahmedabad, April 24

Skipper Virat Kohli blasted his second successive fifty and pacer Mitchell Starc snapped three wickets as Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL encounter here today.

Bangalore didn’t put a foot wrong today as they first dished out a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Rajasthan to 130/9 and then returned to overhaul the target with 23 balls to spare.

Chasing 130, Bangalore rode on the unbeaten 98-run partnership between Kohli and AB de Villiers (47) for the second wicket to snap their three-match losing streak and hand Rajasthan their second successive loss.

Earlier, Starc scalped three wickets, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel took two wickets each while left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla snapped one at the Sardar Patel Stadium after skipper Kohli elected to field.

Chris Gayle (20) and Kohli gave Bangalore a good start with the West Indies batsman blasting three fours and a six.

But Shane Watson dismissed Gayle with a slower bouncer which caught him offguard as he top-edged it to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.

AB de Villiers then joined Kohli and the South African skipper straight away blasted James Faulkner for a couple of boundaries. Kohli too picked up a six off Pravin Tambe to keep the scoreboard ticking. AB cracked two more fours in Tambe’s second over. The duo started toying with the bowlers as they picked up quick singles and twos and also found regular boundaries to frustrate Rajasthan.

In the 14th over, Kohli brought up team 100 with a straight six off the first ball and then reached his individual fifty with a single.

AB then blasted a four off Watson and Kohli plundered another six off Tambe in the next to inch closer to the target. Finally, it was AB who flicked Deepak Hooda to the midwicket boundary for a four to seal the game in Bangalore’s favour.

Earlier put in to bat, Ajinkya Rahane (18) and Watson (26) gave Rajasthan a good start, scoring 36 in five overs before the former was trapped in front of wicket by Patel.

Rahane hit two boundaries and a six in his 12-ball innings, while Watson blasted four fours and a six before his attempt to score another six off Chahal ended with a simple catch at the fence by Starc. New man Karun Nair (16) blasted a six before his 14-ball stay was cut short by a bullet throw from the boundary line by Patel with Kohli doing the needful as Rajasthan slipped to 72 for three. Hooda (1) too was cleaned up by Abdulla in the 12th over when he tried to play a slog shot. — PTI

Rajsthan Royals

A Rahane lbw b Patel 18

S Watson c Starc b Chahal 26

S Smith c Karthik b Starc 31

K Nair run out (Patel/Kohli) 16

D Hooda b Iqbal Abdulla 1

S Samson b Chahal 4

S Binny c Wiese b Starc 20

J Faulkner c Karthik b Patel 4

C Morris not out 3

D Kulkarni b Starc 1

P Tambe not out 2

Extras (LB-1, W-3) 4

Total (9 wkts in 20 ov) 130

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-46, 3-72, 4-84, 5-89, 6-119, 7-121, 8-126, 9-127

Bowling

M Starc 4-0-22-3

I Abdulla 4-0-28-1

H Patel 4-0-23-2

Y Chahal 3.1-0-25-2

D Wiese 4-0-27-0

V Kohli 0.5-0-4-0

Royal Challengers

C Gayle c Samson b Watson 20

V Kohli not out 62

AB de Villiers not out 47

Extras (lb 5) 5

Total (1 wicket; 16.1 ov) 134

Fall of wickets: 1-36

Bowling

C Morris 3-0-23-0

D Kulkarni 4-0-26-0

S Watson 3-0-23-1

J Faulkner 2-0-17-0

P Tambe 4-0-36-0

Vinay Kumar 2-0-18-0

D Hooda 0.1-0-4-0

MOM: M Starc