Navi Mumbai, March 30: Royal Challengers Bangalore batters overcame some nervy moments after leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga spun his way to a four-wicket haul to register a three-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a low-scoring IPL match here on Wednesday.
Hasaranga lived up to his Rs 10.75 crore price tag as his four-wicket burst helped RCB dismiss KKR for 128.
The Sri Lankan was ably supported by the pace trio of Akash Deep (3/45), Harshal Patel (2/11) and Mohammed Siraj (1/25) after RCB won the toss and elected to bowl at DY Patil Stadium here.
In reply, Sherfane Rutherford (28), David Willey (18) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27) played crucial innings as RCB survived some anxious moments before overhauling the target, scoring 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs after Tim Southee (3/20) and Umesh Yadav (2/16) blew away their top-order.
Yadav and Southee troubled the top-order batters with their pace and bounce, leaving RCB at 17 for 3 at one stage.
Willey and Rutherford then tried to rebuild the chase with a 45-run stand but Sunil Narine broke the partnership in the 11th over as he had the former caught at midwicket.
Coming to the crease, Shahbaz pulled Andre Russell for two maximums as RCB amassed 15 runs to ease the pressure.
Needing 36 off 30 balls, Shahbaz hit another six off Chakravarthy before being deceived by the bowler as RCB slumped to 101 for 5.
With pressure mounting, Rutherford went for a slog only to be caught behind off Southee.
Needing 17 off last two overs, Harshal Patel smashed two fours, while Dinesh Karthik (14 not out) blasted a six and a four in the first two balls of the last over to take the team home.
Earlier, KKR batters struggled with the extra bounce and went for shots too many despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
None of the batters could capitalise on the starts as KKR lost six wickets for 57 runs to slip from 44 for 3 to 101 for 9 in 14.3 overs.
Big-hitting West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was the highest scorer for KKR with a 18-ball 25, while Umesh Yadav (18) and Varun Chakravarthy (10) added 27 runs, the fourth-highest for the 10th wicket in IPL history, to provide some respectability to the total. (PTI)
