Royal Challengers Bangalore finally got their first win in this year’s Indian Premier League after their close defeat on the first outing. This match produced a low scoring thriller as Faf Du Plessis’s side won it in the very last over. Faf won the toss and unsurprisingly decided to field first. Kolkata Knight Riders batters just could not settle down as wickets kept falling very fast. They lost half of their side within the first 10 overs and in the end Andre Russell’s 18 ball 25 helped Knights post 128 on the board.
It was way below the average total at the DY Patil stadium and the game looked all but done. However the KKR bowlers had a different plan as they put direct pressure on RCB batting line up picking up 3 top order batters including Faf and Kohli in the powerplay. The game went right down to the end and it was former KKR skipper Dinesh Karthick who secured victory for his new side with a very impactful 14 runs off just 7 balls.
Let us look at the major talking points from the game that RCB won-
Wanindu Hasaranga finally displayed his mystery in RCB colours:
The Sri Lankan mystery spinner was bought by a very big sum of money in the auctions and finally he showed what he can do with the ball. Hasaranga picked up Shreyas Iyer very early and that literally turned the game towards RCB’s favour. He finished the spell with the figures of 4/20 in four overs. It was the 24-year-old’s career best in the IPL and was named Man of the Match.
Andre Russell showed a glimpse of his form:
The big hitting West Indian came to the crease very early and that is in the 9th over. KKR were 67/6 when he came and he had all the time in the world to get set and produce his show. However, wickets kept falling at the other end and all pressure got to his shoulders. He played a decent innings of 25 of 18 balls eventually getting out to Harshal Patel. However KKR needed 4 good overs from him which unfortunately did not go to plan. Russell’s overs prove to be expensive and it made a big impact on KKR’s defend.
Dinesh Karthik ‘the finisher’:
Former KKR captain played a big role in RCB’s chase of 128 with his 7 ball 14 in the end proved to be crucial. RCB lost their top three including Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli very early and the target of 129 looked more difficult than it was expected.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis branded Karthik ‘as ice cool as MS Dhoni’ after he took the team home in the final overs.
“Just the experience. The runs were never a problem. We just needed to have wickets in hand. DK is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool,” Faf du Plessis said.
Dinesh Karthik accepted that he was nervous in that phase of the game but he is happy with his role in the team.
“A little bit (nervous) definitely. Every game is a new game, every day is a new day. You do feel nervous, you are humans. The coach told me that he will be holding me back. I said ‘okay, whatever the team plans, I am happy’. Was looking forward to the opportunity. It is good it came out well.” – DK said.
