Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
The match between KKR and RCB for starters started on a positive note for Virat Kohli who won the toss and elected to bat first at Abu Dhabi Stadium. Perhaps, the only good thing that happened on that night for RCB.
While Virat Kohli looked like a man on a mission with a quintessential push through extra covers to a ball bowled by Prasidh Krishna, however, the mission was short-lived as the very next Prasidh bowled a ball that skidded on and had Kohli trapped in front of the wicket.
The batter and much acclaimed in the domestic circuit KS Bharat, who had a tinge of KL Rahul like stroke play, furnished a steady partnership with Devdutt Padikkal. Both had an off day as per their standards but Lockie Ferguson struck just before powerplay ended to claim the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal.
As is the case with cricketing customs, whenever a partnership is broken the other partner also has to follow the suit and so did KS Bharat, who throughout the night looked slow against the bouncer and was caught reacting slow to a bouncer bowled by Andre Russell and Shubman Gill to do the honors of claiming the catch.
With the wait over and AB De Villiers on the crease alongside Glenn Maxwell, brother of destruction? Were soon neutralized by a beauty from India’s sole mystery spinner. The ball was flicked, it skidded when it landed and smashed into the stumps even before Maxwell could realize.
Maxwell may have been done by beauty, the one that claimed the wicket was bowled by a beast in the truest sense and ball that breathed fire to which Mr. 360° had no clue, also who would? When the first ball you play after 5 months is a brutal yorker (read, toe crushing yorker) and soon the RCB were struggling at 63 for 5.
However, the misery was short-lived as soon it became a mockery with batters coming in and going out even before commercials could end. From 63 for 5 to 83 for 9, it was done within a few minutes and the protagonists being Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson and Andre Russell. Funnily enough, Mohmmad Siraj, ended with more runs than Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Wanindu Hasaranga and two-run less than Glenn Maxwell and RCB folded at 92.
What was expected to be a blockbuster from RCB by fans was reciprocated by a southpaw from the south and a young gun from North, straight out of 2 States’ script?
Watch : Highlights of KKR vs RCB
The two mirrored what their bowlers had done and demolished the opponents claimed and fancy bowlers with booming drives and classic running between the wickets. The symmetry that RCB bowlers displayed by bowling two overs each was nothing compared to what they bowled in those two overs.
The sole wicket by RCB bowler was by Yuzvendra Chahal who claimed Shubman Gill (48) when the score read 82 and the match out of hand, but Mohmmad Siraj did manage to keep the ball in his hand when he caught Gill at long-off.
You want to remember some matches for a lifetime and some matches you want your memory to fade as soon as it’s humanly possible. The 31s match, also the second match after the resumption of much-awaited IPL, between KKR and RCB falls in the latter category.
~Vedant Vashist (Guest Author)
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