"Abhi toh hamein aur zaleel hona hai" - Fans react as RCB lose to KKR by seven wickets in IPL 2024 clash
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. It was their second loss in three games this IPL season.
Asked to bat first, RCB put up 182/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Virat Kohli starred with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 83 runs off 59 balls in an innings laced with four sixes and as many boundaries. Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, and Dinesh Karthik chipped in with 33 (21), 28 (19) and 20*(8), respectively.
Harshit Rana and Andre Russell emerged as the pick of the bowlers for KKR, returning with two wickets apiece. Sunil Narine also bagged one wicket.
In response, the Knight Riders got off to a brilliant start as Sunil Narine and Philip Salt shared an 85-run partnership in the powerplay. Narine smashed quickfire 47 off 22, smashing five sixes and two boundaries. Salt scored 30 off 20, including two sixes and as many boundaries.
Meanwhile, Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer scored 50 (30) and 39*(24), respectively. They helped guide KKR past the finish line and register the second consecutive win in the first two games. Mayank Dagar, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up one wicket each for RCB.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) trolled RCB for their loss to KKR at home. One user shared a meme that read:
"Abhi toh hamein aur zaleel hona hai ("Now, we have to suffer more humiliation)."
Here are a few more reactions:
"You can't go to spin, you want to use pace upfront" - Faf du Plessis explains why RCB didn't use spin against KKR in powerplay
RCB captain Faf du Plessis said that they put up a decent target but KKR were too good in the powerplay. The 39-year-old also explained why RCB didn't bowl a spinner against the Knight Riders in the powerplay, saying:
"You can always say after the game, try one or two things but the way the two of them [Narine and Salt] batted, they put pressure on our bowlers. They hit strong cricket shots and pretty much took the game away.
"With Narine there, you can't go to spin, you want to use pace upfront. That's also a really good match-up for Salt and the way he plays. They were excellent, really broke the game in the first six overs."
Du Plessis added:
"Spinning options with Maxi and finger-spinning can be effective here, but at night there wasn't too much spin. Ideally, you want someone who can spin the ball both ways but with the set-up of our team tonight, we didn't have that option."
Faf du Plessis and Co. will next host Lucknow Super Giants at the same venue on Tuesday (April 2).