Russell's Ruthless Assault Leaves Royal Challengers Shell-shocked

Vintage Kohli and de Villiers help the host put up a mammoth 205 but Knight Riders chase it down with five deliveries to spare

An incredible late assault from Andre Russell powered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a thrilling five-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) here on Friday.

Russell walked in with KKR needing an improbable 67 runs off26 balls, and then proceeded to smash RCB into submission with a breathtaking, unbeaten 13-ball 48.

Shower of sixes

The West Indian blasted seven sixes in a power-hitting exhibition of the highest quality, taking KKR past the finish line with five balls to spare. RCB’s disastrous campaign, meanwhile, extended to a fifth-straight loss.

The home team did itself no favours by dropping four catches — Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj and Virat Kohli the culprits on the field.

Faced with a stiff206-run target, KKR rode on useful knocks from Chris Lynn (43), Robin Uthappa (33) and Nitish Rana (37) to stay in the hunt.

When captain Dinesh Karthik departed, leaving KKR on 153 for five, RCB was well and truly on top. But everything changed when Russell got into the act.

Century partnership

Earlier, after being put in, Kohli and de Villiers came good with a rapid 108-run second-wicket partnership. The duo got together after Parthiv Patel (25, 24b) was trapped in front by off-spinner Nitish Rana.