IPL 2018, RCB vs KKR: Hits and Misses
Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a huge blow before the game as AB de Villiers was down with viral fever and hence had to miss the game. The hosts made four changes as Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field first.
Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock gave RCB a good start as they shared a 67-run stand. But the hosts lost three quick wickets and were on the back foot. However, an excellent knock from skipper Kohli took RCB to a competitive total of 175.
Chasing a par total on a slowish Chinnaswamy pitch, KKR got off to a flying start as Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn took the attack to the RCB bowlers and shared a blistering 59-run stand before Narine’s luck ran out.
Robin Uthappa then scored a sublime 36 before throwing it away. Lynn roared back into form as he struck an uncharacteristic 52-ball 62. Dinesh Karthik walked in at No. 6 and scored a 10-ball 23 to help KKR get over the line.
RCB were quite poor in the field as they dropped Lynn early and the ground fielding was below par as well. Hence, KKR registered their fourth win of the season on the back of a 6-wicket win in Bangalore.
#5 Hit: Kuldeep Yadav
Yadav has had an up and down season so far. He’s taken wickets but has been quite expensive. He was often bowling with the powerplay and with the field restrictions batsmen did go after him. Before today’s game, the chinaman bowler had taken 6 wickets at an economy of 8.51. He was also quite expensive in the last two games and didn’t complete his quota as well.
In this game, Kuldeep came into the attack right after the powerplay and bowled an unchanged four-over spell. He began with a 12-over over as Brendon McCullum struck a six off the last ball of his first over. But the chinaman came back really well as he dismissed Quinton de Kock on the first ball off his second over to break the 67-run opening partnership.
He then showed great control and ended with figures of 1/20 in his 4 overs. He conceded just 8 runs in his last 3 overs as KKR pulled things back after a good opening stand.