Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, David Willey and Sherfane Rutherford all did a commendable job of executing the chase as Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their debut IPL 2022 victory at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
Both teams were playing their second game of the tournament after the conclusion of the first round of fixtures on Tuesday. KKR were high on momentum after their win against defending champions Chennai Super Kings, but many felt that RCB did have the slight edge heading into the fixture, as they were reasonably familiar with the conditions and the behaviour of the pitches at the DY Patil Stadium.
The Bangalore-based franchise lost to the Punjab Kings in their season opener after failing to defend a score of 206, thanks to some power-packed performances from the Punjab batters. However, they emerged on top in Wednesday’s fixture, after the middle order held its nerve post an initial collapse.
RCB’s new skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss against Shreyas Iyer and decided to put the Knight Riders into bat, recognising that the dew factor will make gripping the ball harder as the game progresses. RCB were excellent with the ball, as newbie Akash Deep banged a quick back of a length delivery that hurried on Venkatesh Iyer to dismiss him off the first ball of his spell.
Veteran Ajinkya Rahane had to make the long walk back after an attempted pull shot off Siraj went straight to deep square leg. Akash Deep struck again, this time getting rid of Nitish Rana, courtesy of a terrific catch by David Willey.
The early wickets put KKR on the backfoot, a fact that was put to full use by the Rs 10.75 Crore duo of Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga, who just had their way with the KKR batting lineup.
The Sri Lanka international got rid of Iyer, Sunil Narine, and Sheldon Jackson in quick succession before Patel’s outstanding control and variations with the ball completely swung the momentum in RCB’s favour. Harshal bowled a staggering 19 dot balls in his spell, which included two successive maiden overs.
He mixed up his deliveries in brilliant fashion to do away with the dangerous duo of Sam Billings and Andre Russell. Hasaranga completed his quota of four overs with figures of 4/20, a dream spell indeed. KKR’s tail did wag towards the end, as the last wicket yielded 27 runs, bringing the total to a modest 128.
The target of 129 should have been a walk in the park for the RCB batsmen, but veteran pacer Umesh Yadav had other ideas, removing Anuj Rawat for a duck with a jaffa early on. Virat Kohli looked in fine form, but was also undone by Yadav in what has now become an almost characteristic dismissal for the modern-day great. Kohli’s wicket followed that of du Plessis, placing the RCB at a precarious 17/3.
It was at this point that middle-order duo Willey and Rutherford absorbed most of the pressure. They soaked in the tense situation and controlled the fall of wickets, setting up a potential victory for their side. Willey took the long walk back for a 28-ball 18, but it was the stability that he provided in the middle that was of such high value.
Willey’s dismissal brought in Shahbaz Ahmed, who played a fantastic cameo, smashing three sixes on his way to 27. At the time of Ahmed’s dismissal, RCB looked in pole position to take the game, but a world-class 18th over by Tim Southee put Kolkata back in contention, but the vast experience of Dinesh Karthik came to aid, as he sealed a six and a boundary off the first two balls to give his side a much needed first win in this year’s IPL.
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders: 128 All Out in 18.5 Overs (Russell 25, Yadav 18; Hasaranga 4/20)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs (Rutherford 28, Ahmed 27; Southee 3/20, Yadav 2/16).
