IPL 2018: 3 things we learnt from RR vs KKR

Image result for rr vs kkr — RR vs KKR was an interesting battle between two new captains

The match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders was a highly-anticipated encounter with both teams coming off impressive wins, against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils respectively. RR had the explosive D’Arcy Short and Sanju Samson at the top to do their power hitting while KKR had the services of Narine and Andre Russell to go with a much-improved Dinesh Karthik.

The IPL returned to the Sawai Mansingh stadium after two years following the ban of Rajasthan Royals in 2015 and the stage was set for an enthralling encounter with two intelligent Indian skippers set for a battle of wits. The match started off in a dull manner but sprung to life when Rahane got going with four consecutive boundaries off Sunil Narine. D’Arcy Short and the other batsmen could not support their skipper though and RR ended up with a sub-par total of 160.

In reply, KKR lost Lynn early but the duo of Uthappa and Narine kept the scoreboard ticking and in the latter stages, skipper Dinesh Karthik and new recruit Nitish Rana staged a 50-run partnership to take their team home with more than an over to spare.

Here are 3 things we learned from the match:

#1 Narine is not infallible

Image result for sunil narine — Narine had a poor outing with the ball

Sunil Narine has had somewhat of a rollercoaster career. From being a mystery spinner in the mould of Ajantha Mendis to getting suspended for a suspect action and finally transforming into a pinch-hitter, he has come a long way.

Even though he re-worked his bowling action, he was still a nightmare to deal with for other IPL teams, going by his IPL economy rate of 6.36 which is seriously impressive in the modern T20 era. But yesterday, the scenario was different. Narine was taken to the cleaners by RR skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, who hit him for four consecutive boundaries. Narine recorded his poorest IPL figures, conceding 48 runs off his 4 overs with no wickets.

Narine more than made up for his performance in the second innings, hitting a typically explosive 35 off 25 deliveries but it was a day to forget for Narine, the bowler.