Thakur, spinners script Kolkata win

Kolkata Knight Riders registered a massive 81 run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

Asked to bat, Kolkata posted 204 for seven in their 20 overs and in their response Bangalore was bowled out for 123 in 17.4 overs.

Earlier, Kolkata lost their top-order cheaply. They were first reduced to 47 for three. Then there was a 43 run fourth wicket stand between Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57: 44b, 6x4, 3x6) and Rinku Singh. The innings was reduced to 89 for five in 11.3 overs. That's when the innings changed course. Rinku teamed up with Shardul Thakur to add 103 runs for the sixth wicket. Thakur smoked 68 off just 29 balls with nine boundaries and three sixes. Rinku made 46 off 33 balls with two boundaries and three sixes. In the end Kolkata finished on 204 for seven in their 20 overs. For Bangalore the successful bowlers were David Willey (2-16) and Karn Sharma (2-26).

In their response Bangalore started off swiftly, but then there was a collapse. Virat Kohli was the first to fall. Skipper Faf du Plessis was the next to depart. Bangalore went from being 44 for no loss to 54 for four. Then the innings slipped further. There was no partnership of any note as Kolkata spinners spun a web around Bangalore's batters. Bangalore was finally bowled out for 123 in 17.4 overs. For Kolkata the best bowlers were Varun Chakravarthy (4-15), Suyash Sharma (3-30) and Sunil Narine (2-16).

Match Summary
Kolkata Knight Riders: 204-7 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Venkatesh Iyer-3.2 ov), 2-26 (Mandeep Singh-3.3 ov), 3-47 (Nitish Rana-6.1 ov), 4-89 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz-11.2 ov), 5-89 (Andre Russell-11.3 ov), 6-192 (Rinku Singh-18.6 ov), 7-198 (Shardul Thakur-19.4 ov)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 123 (17.4)
Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Virat Kohli-4.5 ov), 2-46 (Faf du Plessis-5.2 ov), 3-54 (Glenn Maxwell-7.2 ov), 4-54 (Harshal Patel-7.4 ov), 5-61 (Shahbaz Ahmed-8.5 ov), 6-83 (Michael Bracewell-11.3 ov), 7-84 (Anuj Rawat-12.2 ov), 8-86 (Dinesh Karthik, 12.5 ov), 9-96 (Karn Sharma-14.3 ov), 10-123 (Akash Deep-17.4 ov)

Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (captain), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy; Subs: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Narayanan Jagadeesan, David Wiese 

Impact player: Suyash Sharma for Venkatesh Iyer (2nd innings, 0.1 ov)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj; Subs: Finn Allen, Sonu Yadav, Mahipal Lomoror, Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat

Impact player: Anuj Rawat for Mohammed Siraj (2nd innings, 11.3 ov)

Match Details
Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore, elected to field
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Vinod Seshan, Virender Sharma (On-field Umpires); Nitin Menon (TV Umpire); Abhijit Bengeri (Reserve Umpire); Shakti Singh (Match-referee)