Royal Challengers Bangalore pull off 13-run win over Rising Pune Supergiants, IPL 2016, Match 16 at Pune

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) become the only team in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 to win two matches batting first as they beat Rising Pune Supergiants by 13 runs in Match 16 at Pune. With this win RCB have jumped to the third position with four points. Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni played well, but their 89-run stand for the third wicket was not enough to see them over the line. RPS  RCB set RPS a stiff target of 186, but their run chase got off to the worst possible start as they lost their in form batsman Faf du Plessis for just 2 in the second over.  LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Match 16 at Pune

Kevin Pietersen  then pulled his hamstring off the first delivery he faced when he set off for a single. He had to go off the field immediately as a result, which paved way for Australia skipper Steven Smith to walk in. He was run out for just 4 after he was sent back by Rahane as Smith looked for a quick single after being wrapped on the pads. Dhoni joined Rahane at a precarious position, but they got some momentum into the innings. Live Cricket Updates Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL 2016

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New comer Tabraiz Shamsi got the better of Rahane in the 15th over as he drew Rahane down the track and KL Rahul knocked the bails of behind the wickets, with Rahane falling short. Dhoni fell in the very next over as AB de Villiers took an excellent catch at long off. Thisara Perera then walked in and smashed his way to 13-ball 34. He was severe, especially on Harshal Patel, off whom RPS scored 25 in the 18th over, when they needed 50 off the final three overs.

Perera’s wicket brought curtains to RPS chances of winning the match as RCB, led by Shane Watson wrapped things up quickly. Richardson picked up two wickets in the final over to ensure RCB wo with no further hiccups. Although it was a surprise Richardson was not given the 18th over, but he did a fine job in the final over. Kohli would have come under a lot of fire had RCB lost the match for giving Harshal the 18th over ahead of Ricgardson.

In the first innings, de Villiers, Virat Kohli have powered Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to 185 for 3 in their 20 overs. Both batsmen put on their fourth 50-plus partnership in as many matches in this edition of the IPL. They put on 155 runs for the second wicket and due to this, RCB managed to get a substantial score on the board. KL Rahul opened the innings with Kohli once again, but he was dismissed for just 7 after he top-edged a ball to third man of Thisara Perera. Kohli and de Villiers then got together and took the bowlers apart. With one side of the field on the square on the smaller side, de Villieres took full advantage of it as a couple of top-edged shots off spinners went over the fence. Kohli was dropped on 50 in the 16th over by Ankit Sharma at mid-off as he could not judge the ball, which went very high in the air. Kohli was going at just run-a-ball, but de Villiers made up for it as he was striking at close to 190 at that stage.

MS Dhoni in the meantime showed off his reflexes behind the wickets, stopping the ball with his right leg once against, just like he did against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) earlier in the tournament. RPS bowlers were finding it difficult to get a breakthrough. Murugan Ashwin, who is among the leading wicket-takers in the tournament was targeted by the batsmen. He took quite a pounding, finishing with none for 29 in his two overs. It was Thisara Perera, who had started things of well for RPS but went for a few in the death overs, he however managed to get rid of Kohli and de VIlliers in the final over off consecutive deliveries to give RPS some respite. But Ishant Sharma’s poor form continued as he went for 47 runs in his four overs.

RCB despite having nine wickets in hand for most stages in the match, with two set batsmen will feel that they should have scored a further 15-20 runs.

Earlier, MS Dhoni had won the toss and elected to bowl first. Kohli’s poor luck with the toss carried on as he lost the toss once again. Both teams had made changes to their playing XI. RPS had brought in all-rounder Rajat Bhatia in place of Irfan Pathan. RCB on the other hand have roped in Mandeep in place of Varun Aaron. Tabraiz Shamsi, who was called up as a replacement for Samuel Badree in the RCB squad, comes in place of Travis Head.

Brief Scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 185 for 3 in 20 Overs (Virat Kohli 80, AB de Villiers 83; Thisara Perera 3 for 34) beat Rising Pune Supergiants 172 for 8 (Ajinkya Rahane 60, MS Dhoni 41; Kane RIchardson 3 for 13, Shane Watson 2 for 31) by 13 runs.

Full Scorecard

(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)