AB de Villiers’ grasp class and Glenn Maxwell‘s counter-attacking half-century propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to an imposing 204 for 4 in opposition to Kolkata Knight Riders of their IPL match, Chennai on Sunday.

RCB scored 56 runs within the final three overs, together with 21 within the remaining six deliveries, to set KKR a stiff goal after electing to bat.

De Villiers blazed away to 76 off 34 balls with the assistance of 9 fours and three sixes, whereas Maxwell made 78 off 49. The Australian too hit 9 boundaries and three sixes.

The Knight Riders had been off to an excellent begin with leg-break bowler Varun Chakravarthy leaving RCB in early hassle at 9/2 with the massive wickets of skipper Virat Kohli (5) and Rajat Patidar (1) within the second over.

Opening the bowling for KKR, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh bowled a good line and size to stifle the RCB batsmen in his first two overs.

After Chakravarthy lured Kohli to go over cowl with a tossed-up supply that drifted away from the right-hander, Rahul Tripathi pulled off a sensational catch operating again from extra-cover. The highest batsman was nowhere near the ball.

Chakravarthy then went via the defence of Patidar with one which darted again on touchdown.

Mixing aggression with warning, Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal (25) revived the RCB innings after the early blows on the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Whereas the younger Indian appeared content material enjoying the second fiddle, the swashbuckling Australian counter-attacked in effective style and performed the massive photographs with consummate ease.

The in-form Maxwell upped the ante when he cleared his entrance leg to plonk Shakib Al Hasan over long-on for his first most within the sixth over.

The one bowled by Shakib turned out to be a productive over for RCB as they bought 17 runs off it.

After reaching 45 for 2 on the finish of the six powerplay overs, Maxwell shifted gears and raced to his half-century in simply 28 balls. Even Chakravarthy, who was on hearth a while in the past, was not spared by Maxwell as he smashed him for a six and 4 off successive balls.

Prasidh Krishna ended the third-wicket partnership of 86 runs by sending again Padikkal, which signalled the arrival of De Villiers within the center.

Becoming a member of forces, the dazzling duo of Maxwell and De Villiers didn’t permit the KKR bowlers to settle into any form of rhythm till premier pacer Pat Cummins ended their 53-run affiliation.

After that, the present belonged to De Villiers as he toyed with KKR bowlers.