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IPL 2019, KKR vs RCB Turning Point - Moeen Ali restricts Andre Russell, Nitish Rana in final over
Moeen Ali and Virat Kohli were the top performers for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter.
24 runs off 6 balls - The equation may favour the bowling side in normal circumstances but the presence of Andre Russell at the crease meant that the match was well and truly alive for Kolkata Knight Riders during their IPL 2019 encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.
The RCB pacers were all done with their quota of bowling and there was a huge question mark over who will bowl the last over. Skipper Virat Kohli went with the experience of Moeen Ali and although he has faced a lot of situations like this, it was still difficult for him as this was the first time he was going to bowl in the match.
READ: KKR vs RCB: Virat Kohli scores historic ton against Kolkata Knight Riders
The ball was slightly outside Nitish Rana’s leg stump but the bowler escaped the wide call because Rana shuffled a bit towards the leg stump. The batsman felt that he was hard done by the decision but the pressure was on KKR.
The next ball also yielded no boundary as Rana went for a slog towards the leg side but was able to get a single towards backward square leg. 23 runs left off four balls and Andre Russell was at the crease.
A floated delivery around off stump and Russell holds his shape to heave it over long-off for a six and the target started to look quite achievable. But. the next ball changed everything for RCB as it was a floated one outside the off-stump and Russell was unable to connect with the delivery as he swung hard but missed.
READ: Virat Kohli takes a juggling catch to dismiss Shubman Gill - Watch
The next two balls produced just seven more runs and on the penultimate delivery, Russell was run out after he failed to hit the ball for a boundary and a straight throw from Kohli ended KKR’s hopes once and for all.
Earlier, Kohli stepped up his World Cup preparations with a brilliant century for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kohli smashed a 58-ball 100, his fifth in the IPL, to help Bangalore reach 213 for 4 from their 20 overs.
