RCB pull-off 10-run win after another Russell carnage
Kolkata, Apr 19: Royal Challengers Bangalore eked out a 10-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders for only their second success of the season after Andre Russell and Nitish Rana nearly pulled off the impossible in the Indian Premier League here on Friday.
Needing 113 runs off the last six overs, Russell (65 off 25) and Rana (85 not out off 46) almost got their team over the line but Moeen Ali managed to defend 24 in the final over.
The tense climax came after Virat Kohli smashed 100 off 58 balls for his fifth century in the IPL and first this season. RCB hammered 91 runs off the last five overs to reach 213 for four, their highest total this year.
Ali's 66 off 28 while batting alongside Kohli also proved crucial for RCB's cause as they finally managed to defend.
The win keeps RCB mathematically alive in the tournament while KKR suffered their fourth loss in as many games.
Following a Kohli special, it was the turn of swing king Dale Steyn to land some body blows on the opposition. Playing his first game of the season after having come in as a replacement, the South African great removed Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill to leave KKR reeling at 33 for three in five overs.
Russell tried his best to pull off another improbable chase for KKR in the company of Nitish Rana but this time it wasn't to be.
Earlier, it was Ali who gave the much needed oxygen to their innings, smashing six sixes and five fours to seize momentum after a slow start. Kohli and Ali shared 90 runs off 43 balls and there was no looking back after Ali's assault.
The match swung in the 16th over when Kuldeep Yadav bled 27 runs with Ali going berserk, smashing the star India spinner for three sixes and two boundaries. The chinaman ended with figures of 1/59 in four overs.
Kohli, who scored his first 50 off 40 balls, changed gears in the second half of his innings. Such was his domination that Kohli took just 17 balls for his second fifty.
Put in, RCB got off to an ordinary start and the absence of AB de Villiers, who was indisposed following dehydration, was felt very much.
Kohli mistimed the ball with a couple of inside-edges to the boundary, while his left-handed opening partner Parthiv Patel (11 off 11) had a hit-and-miss stay before falling to Sunil Narine inside the powerplay.
In the middle of all this, RCB sent in Akshdeep Nath (13 off 15) at number three keeping the in-form Ali in waiting. RCB made only 42 inside the powerplay.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 213 for 4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 100, Moeen Ali 66 ; Sunil Narine 32/1).
Kolkata Knight Riders: 203 for 5 in 20 overs. (Nitish Rana 85, Andre Russell 65; Dale Steyn 40/2).
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Karnataka procured 16 lakh expired RT-PCR kits during Covid wave: D’Cunha commission
Bengaluru: Justice John Michael D’Cunha’s committee has uncovered significant irregularities in the procurement of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing that more than 16 lakh RT-PCR test kits purchased by Karnataka in 2022 under the BJP-led government were either expired or close to their expiry dates.
After irregularities in PPE kit purchases, ventilators have also come under the scanner, with the report highlighting discrepancies amounting to Rs 173.26 crore in purchases made by the Medical Education Department.
The commission has also found that the Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd. (KSMSCL) that cancelled a supply order for one lakh Rapid Antigen (RAT) kits placed with a Singapore-based company in March 2020 — for delay in supplying — has not recovered the Rs 6.99 crore paid to the company towards the order, as reported by The Hindu on Thursday.
According to the 279-page report on procurements made by the KSMSCL that is compiled in part IV of the report, a payment of Rs 148.84 crore was made by KSMSCL to various suppliers and firms towards procurement of RT-PCR kits from 2020 to 2022.
The Commission’s report, as cited by the publication, stated that there were records indicating procurement of RT-PCR kits, RNA extraction kits and Viral transport media (VTM) of a total value of Rs 106.25 crore during the pandemic in Karnataka. However, according to the report, this procurement was made without administrative approval.
“Since the KSMSCL has failed to discharge its obligation and responsibility, the loss caused to the State exchequer to this extent is required to be replenished by the erring officers and/or officials of the KSMSCL as well as the officers and/or officials of the consignee designated laboratories who received the consignment,” the report said, pegging the losses due to expired kits supplied by companies at Rs 3.11 crore.
In response to the report’s findings, state Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised the saffron party for profiting from the pandemic. He promised accountability for the irregularities involving PPE kits and ventilators, stating that those responsible would face punishment.
