The 3rd match of the VIVO IPL 2018 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders began with the latter winning the toss, and deciding to field first. The Royal Challengers Bangalore, batting first, lost opener Quinton De Kock early, leaving RCB reeling at 18-1, while at the other end, explosive opener Brendon McCullum started smashing in his inimitable style, supported by a patient Virat Kohli anchoring a partnership, before McCullum ended his knock at 43(27b, 6x4, 2x6).
After McCullum's departure, entered Ab De Villiers whose blitzkrieg sent the ball all over the park. and he smashed a whirlwind 44(23b, 1x4,5x6), before falling to Rana, who stunned by claiming skipper Kohli the very next delivery, leaving RCB reeling at 127/4. With the resurgent Mandeep Singh offering some lower order resistance, and impressing with his pinch hitting knock of 37(18b, 4x4,2x6), RCB reached a comfortable 176/7 off 20 overs, with Vinay Kumar and Rana claiming two wickets apiece. KKR began their innings on a disastrous note, as their opener Lynn departed earlier, while the other opener Sunil Narine had other ideas, as he launched an array of shots, stunning the opposition.
Completely dominating the innings, Narine's stunning action packed show ended, as he was bowled finally by Umesh Yadav, scoring a thunderous 50(19b, 4x4,5x6), leaving KKR at 68/2 in just 6 overs. After Rana (34) and Karthik tried to snatch away the match from the hands of RCB, Washington Sundar removed Rana, which happened to be a major breakthrough, Skipper Dinesh Karthik was left with the task of taking KKR to victory, when Andre Russell came in and scored few stunning shots over the boundary. But he departed sooner, and tailender Vinay Kumar finally scored the winning shot, as KKR finally won by 4 wickets, with 7 balls to spare.
