
Photo: Business Standard
Bangalore Thumps Kolkata As De Villiers' Blitz Crushes Knights Bowler Royally
With probably the best team combination since its journey, Royal Challengers Bangalore ousted Kolkata Knight Riders in the latest encounter of the IPL 2020 on October 12. Batting first after winning the toss, RCB openers put a sound platform for its big guns to explode later in the inning at the smaller ground of Sharjah. Picking up from 16th over, AB de Villiers went after the KKR bowlers tigerishly and scored 73 runs off just 33 balls while Kohli, logging 33 off 28 deliveries, kept providing him the strike. Chasing a mammoth target of 195, Kolkata’s experimental opening pair with debutant Tom Banton failed miserably. While KKR kept losing wickets at regular intervals, RCB's spin-twins of Chahal and Sundar contained Kolkata to score in the middle-overs. Oozing through the pressure, KKR entered three-figure score only in 18th over. Later, RCB wrapped up the things with a massive 82-run victory. With this, RCB moved to top-3 in the points table.