Challengers shine after rain

Mandeep Singh finally came to party as Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their first home win of the season in thrilling fashion against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday.

Having fired only in fits and starts so far, the 23-year-old chose a very opportune moment to make an impact, cracking a stunning, unbeaten 18-ball 45 as the Royal Challengers posted a seven-wicket win over the Knight Riders here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In a game that reduced to 10 overs-a-side after heavy rain battered the packed house just after RCB skipper Virat Kohli won the toss, the hosts showed plenty of verve and spunk to emerge winners and continue their rise up the table. Set a challenging 112, the Royal Challengers started their chase in confident fashion with openers Chris Gayle and Kohli going great guns.

While Gayle dealt only in sixes, Kohli played some scintillating shots around the park as the fans lapped every bit of the action. Just when RCB appeared to have KKR on the mat, the visitors bounced back through veteran Brad Hogg who had Gayle caught in the deep for a 9-ball 21. AB de Villiers too quickly departed, inside-edging a Piyush Chawla delivery as RCB seemed to be in a spot of bother.

Kohli (34, 20b, 2x4, 3x6) and Mandeep then nearly steered RCB home. With the finishing line in sight, the skipper departed, giving a catch to Suryakumar Yadav off Andre Russell. RCB needed 31 more runs at that stage. However, Mandeep played a brilliant cameo to power the Royal Challengers home.

Earlier, after being stuck in the dressing room for almost two and half hours following the heavy rain that drenched the stadium, KKR expectedly came out swinging from the word go. With just 10 overs to play, they had no other choice but to try raking up as big a total as possible and put the Challengers under pressure on another batting paradise.

Finding range

Skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, after failing to get anything big in the opening over bowled by Mitchel Starc, took on Varun Aaron. With both Gambhir and Uthappa throwing everything at him, Aaron didn’t appear to have the ammunition to restrict the duo as the Knight Riders smashed 12 runs in that over to get the move-on they needed.

Gambhir departed for an 8-ball 12 to a fine one-handed catch at point by Mandeep off David Wiese in the fourth over but things changed for the good for the Knight Riders following his dismissal. One of the key performers for KKR this season, Russell struck a brilliant cameo to help them post a challenging total. The West Indian, in the company of Uthappa, had powered KKR to a superb win over Chennai Super Kings in their previous match, seemed to carry on from where he had left off.

The 27-year-old West Indian played another typically belligerent knock, smacking a 17-ball 45. While he did mistime a few which was bound to happen considering he didn’t have to plenty of time left, his assault containing five boundaries and three maximums left the Challengers gasping.However, the Royal Challengers found a hero in Mandeep to register their fourth win of the season.