Mohammed Siraj's record-breaking night stuns Kolkata Knight Riders
Royal Challengers Bangalore 85 for 2 (Padikkal 25, Gurkeerat 21*, Ferguson 1-17) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 84 for 8 (Morgan 30, Siraj 3-8, Chahal 2-15) by eight wickets
A devastating spell of new-ball bowling from Mohammed Siraj (4-2-3-8) left Kolkata Knight Riders so far down on the mat it was all they could do to last the 20 overs.
They did so playing out four maidens - an IPL record - two of them to Siraj alone - another IPL record. They suffered 72 dots in a 120-ball innings - only three shy of another IPL record and put up only 84 on the board - the lowest IPL total for a team batting first and not losing all their wickets.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had little trouble with the chase, completing it with eight wickets and 39 balls to spare and moving to second place on the table.
Super Siraj
All they needed was a hint. Royal Challengers have been very good with the way they've handled their bowlers this season. And in this game as well, as soon as they saw there was some swing on offer, they immediately went to Siraj with the new ball. Even though he was the new man in the XI.
Siraj is a natural inswinger. But it was moving the ball the other way that brought him most of his success. He snagged the outside edge of Rahul Tripathi in the second over. One ball later, he burst through Nitish Rana's defences. That over ended up as a double-wicket maiden.
He also had Tom Banton caught behind before he gave up a single run off his bowling as the Royal Challengers earned the upper hand from start to finish.
Recovering from a powerplay score of 17 for 4 was never going to be easy and though Eoin Morgan tried, the opposition just had too many resources to mount a counter attack. Yuzvendra Chahal, for so long the only consistent wicket-taking threat for the Royal Challengers, might even have felt weird playing back up as he picked up 2 for 15 and limited Knight Riders to 84 for 8.
The easiest chase in the IPL?
Well not for Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal. They fell for 16 and 25 but with such a tiny target before them, Royal Challengers could always regroup. They did the sensible thing with the batting too and gave one of their less experienced players time in the middle - Gurkeerat Singh making 21 as they sealed victory.