Glenn Maxwell blasted a 28-ball fifty while AB de Villiers also responded in kind with a blazing 27-ball half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders were blown away by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Glenn Maxwell’s second consecutive fifty and a batting masterclass from AB de Villiers boosted Royal Challengers Bangalore to 204/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday. The assault from Maxwell and de Villiers is commendable considering that Royal Challengers Bangalore were 9/2, with Virat Kohli out cheaply for 5 in the second over bowled by Varun Chakravarthy.
Maxwell shared a partnership of 86 off 55 balls with Devdutt Padikkal who played the sheet anchor role perfectly. However, it was his blazing partnership 53-run partnership of 29 balls that set the tone for the big score. In the final overs, de Villiers was joined by Kyle Jamieson who hammered Harbhajan Singh for a six and a four. The South African notched up his fifty with an inside out six over deep extra cover.
De Villiers then launched into Russell as he hit two fours and a six in the 18th over. In the final over, de Villiers showed his class by whacking three fours and a six off Russell as he leaked 38 runs in two overs. The last five overs yielded 70 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore and that may have put the contest out of Kolkata Knight Riders’ hands.
Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to bat on a wicket that was considered good for batting by Kohli. In the second over, though, disaster struck. Kohli sliced a lofted drive off Varun Chakravarthy. Rahul Tripathi, at cover, ran back and took a stunning catch to send the RCB skipper back. In the same over, Rajat Patidar was cleaned up with a flatter ball that drifted back in. However, that would be the only success Kolkata Knight Riders would have as the ‘Big Show’ stepped up.
Maxwell immediately stamped his class with two boundaries off Shakib Al Hasan and Pat Cummins. However, in the final over of the powerplay, Maxwell unleashed his brilliance and repertoire of strokes. He used the switch hit and smashed two fours and a six as 17 runs came off Shakib’s over.
The right-hander continued his aggression and pounded Chakravarthy for a four and a six. Kolkata Knight Riders did not help by bowling too many no-balls. In every free-hit, Maxwell capitalized and he notched up his fifty off just 28 balls.
With Maxwell finding the boundaries, Padikkal was also looking to be aggressive. However, on 25, he miscued a pull shot from Prasidh Krishna to be caught by Tripathi again. That had no respite for Kolkata Knight Riders as that got de Villiers in.
Like Maxwell, he too started off in blazing fashion, smashing two boundaries off Chakravarthy. After Maxwell fell for a brilliant 73, de Villiers upped the ante with two fours off Krishna. In the game against Mumbai Indians, Russell took 5/15 to dent the five-time champions. However, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he was smashed for 38 runs in two overs. The class of de Villiers and Maxwell has potentially ensured Royal Challengers Bangalore secure a hat-trick of wins not just in IPL 2021 but also against Kolkata Knight Riders.
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