IPL 2016, Match 16: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Rising Pune Supergiants by 13 runs at Pune, Stars and Flops
IPL 2016, Match 16: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Rising Pune Supergiants by 13 runs at Pune, Stars and Flops
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) started their journey with win, then followed by two back to back defeats and now back on track with their second victory in the ninth edition of Indian Premier League which came against Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS). RCB skipper Virat Kohli lost the toss and was asked to bat first by Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) captain MS Dhoni.
The start was pretty was decent but soon they lost their first wicket in the form of KL Rahul and from there on, it was all about Kohli and AB de Villiers‘ exuberant display of batsmanship. The duo collected 155 runs and steered their side to dominating position. Kohli played a vital innings as he scored 80 (63) but it was de Villiers who was the centre of attraction and ensured a good total of 185 on board with his 46-ball 83. On the other hand, RPS spearhead Ishant Sharma bowled erratically from the outset of the innings and conceded 47 runs from his spell of four overs. The only bowler to take wickets from RPS was Thisara Perera, who took all the three wickets of RCB. Read: Ishant Sharma gets trolled on Twitter for his expensive first spell against RCB
Like RCB, RPS too didn’t get off to a good start as they first lost their openers Faf du Plessis followed by Kevin Pietersen‘s injury and then Steve Smith’s run out. Logically, RPS were three down when skipper Dhoni walked to the crease to join Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane played well and scored much-needed 46-balls 60. Thanks to Perera and Rajat Bhatia cameos, who made the match a nail-biting one, though they lost it by 13 runs. Despite RCB’s victory, Kohli’s captaincy was not very impressive as he didn’t use Kane Richardson after his impressive first two overs. He went with Harshal Patel, who eventually conceded 25 runs in 17th over and almost turned the game in the favour of RPS. IPL 2016, Match 16, Pick of the tweets: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Pune
Turning Point: After MS Dhoni’s wicket, Thisara Perera went berserk and almost brought RPS back into the game but his dismissal shifted the whole game in RCB’s favour, which ultimately proved to be the turning point of the match.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 185 for 3 in 20 overs [Virat Kohli 80 (63), AB de Villiers 83 (46); Thisara Perera 4-0-34-3] beat Rising Pune Supergiants 172 for 8 in 20 overs [Ajinkya Rahane 60 (46), MS Dhoni 41 (38), Thisara Perera 34 (13); Kane Richardson 3-0-13-3, Shane Watson 4-0-31-2] by 13 runs.