Kolkata Knight Riders 177 for 6 (Narine 50, Karthik 34*, Woakes 3-36) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 176 for 7 (De Villiers 44, McCullum 43, Rana 2-11) by four wickets
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Sunil Narine pillaged a 17-ball half-century © BCCI
Sunil Narine‘s 17-ball half-century and Nitish Rana‘s all-round show helped Kolkata Knight Riders win their season opener at home, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets. Under cloudy skies and asked to bat first, Brendon McCullum (43) and AB de Villiers (44) propelled RCB to a above-par total at Eden Gardens, but Narine’s blitz neutralised both those knocks and the Knight Riders’ middle-order cruised to a comfortable win thereafter.
RCB could’ve made much more than their eventual total of 176 for 7, especially after being positioned at 127 for 2 after 14.1 overs, but a one-over special from part-time offspinner Nitish Rana – who took the wickets of de Villiers and Virat Kohli off consecutive balls – gave Knight Riders the advantage towards the end of the first innings.
After Narine fell for 50 in the sixth over, the hosts wobbled slightly as Umesh Yadav – a former Knight Rider himself – removed both him and Robin Uthappa off consecutive overs, but Dinesh Karthik (35*), Rana (34) and Andre Russell (15*) maintained composure with the bat to chase down the target of 177 with seven balls to spare and extend the domination of teams opting to chase in Kolkata.
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Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo