Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 36th Match
KKR have beaten RCB twice this season. Both times, they posted 200+ on the board and choked RCB with spin. They move to the seventh spot with this win while Bangalore stay put at the fifth.
The win should do the KKR dugout a world of good, considering that their captain Nitish Rana had visibly been left frustrated after the team’s last two losses. Rana had voiced his disappointment in the bowling unit and said that the side needed to do much better.
Earlier in the innings Kolkata Knight Riders had started off brightly in the powerplay, thanks to some incredible intent from England batter Jason Roy. With Nayaran Jagadeesan struggling on a flat Chinnaswamy track, Roy kept his cool and put away the bad balls inside the powerplay overs.
Roy’s frustration was only visible in the 10th over of the match, when he was bowled around the legs by Vijay Kumar Vyshak. With Roy gone, the KKR batting unit struggled in the middle overs of the match, failing to attack at a venue that is known to be high scoring in nature.
The team was able to up the impetus after the arrival of captain Nitish Rana, who began the counter-attack late in the innings. Rana’s 48 off 21 gave KKR a little bit of air to breathe and allowed Rinku Singh and David Wiese to cut loose in the final two overs of the game. At the time, RCB were looking to restrict the Kolkata side below 190 runs, but an expensive final two overs changed the game. Rinku Singh and Wiese were able to take away 30 runs in the final two overs, which took KKR to a below-par but respectable score.
Royal Challengers Bangalore fielders were to be blamed for allowing KKR to cut loose, failing to grab onto other chances. In certain instances, they even failed to make the ground and reach the ball as well. This came in sharp contrast to the way Kolkata fielded on the day, picking up three brilliant chances at the edge of the boundary.
RCB captain for the day, Virat Kohli, was left seething after the match and said that this was a freebie to the Kolkata side, who were handed the win on the day.
With the win, KKR are now placed in 7th position, bettering their Net Run Rate, while RCB stand in the 5th position in the league table.