On his 500th T20 match, Sunil Narine haunted Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the bat, smashing 47 off 22. After Narine gave up the bat, Venkatesh Iyer struck 50 off 30 to help KKR overturn Virat Kohli’s 59-ball 83* that had reduced RCB to 182 for 6. By the midway point, KKR had taken down what appeared to be an above-average total with 3.1 overs remaining.
What was the nature of KKR’s PowerPlay?
The sheer incapacity of RCB to control Narine. In the first over of the chase, Phil Salt set the tone by hitting his season-long rival Mohammed Siraj for two sixes and a four in the first eighteen runs. Narine then took charge. Alzarri Joseph tried to go quick and short, but even Narine’s ill-advised hits could travel over the ropes due to the small stadium. Joseph allowed two sixes in a 14-run over after beating him twice for pace. After hitting a six over deep square leg off a slower ball from Siraj in the fifth over, Narine then destroyed Yash Dayal in the last PowerPlay over, scoring two fours and two sixes in an over that saw 21 runs scored. After that, KKR swept to 85/0 in just 6 overs.
What took place next?
RCB’s impact substitute Vijaykumar Vyshak was bowled out by Salt to the deep square leg fielder after Mayank Dagar arrived and cleaned up Narine with a full ball. But when Venkatesh Iyer entered the game to keep up the speed set by the openers, that wasn’t the path back into the match that the RCB had imagined it was. To keep the RCB on their toes, he handed Dagar the ball to hit a six down the ground and connected with a four off Vyshak. Joseph’s return by Faf du Plessis shifted the odds even further in favour of KKR. With a clever cut, Venkatesh pierced the off-side field, then hammered a short, slower ball for a six over midwicket. Finally, he pulled a short ball for a six over fine leg. Then, in a 20-run over, the ball soared off the top edge for a four.
KKR was well on their way to victory when Yash Dayal removed the left-hander after he had amassed a fifty off thirty balls. Despite Vyshak’s effective usage of change of pace, RCB had very little opportunity to recover from this point on.
How did RCB begin?
Good. In the PowerPlay, Virat Kohli pursued Mitchell Starc and formed a partnership with Cameron Green, who hit Narine for two fours and a six in the sixth over. RCB scored 61 runs in the PowerPlay to position themselves for middle-overs consolidation, even with du Plessis’s early departure.
For KKR, slow is golden.
KKR unleashed slow bowlers to put RCB on the back foot as they had two pace hitters in the middle. Anukul Roy, a left-arm spinner who bowled one in the PowerPlay, did a good job of matching the opposition, giving up just six runs in his two overs. Even after the PowerPlay, Andre Russell’s ability to hit the ball hard and change pace made it difficult for RCB to advance, and Narine was met with contempt.
After sending Green packing on a routine delivery, he performed brilliantly for the remainder of his period, going 2 for 29. With his variation of pace, he was able to defeat Kohli as well, bowling up to 11 dots in his four overs. After being held back to allow Glenn Maxwell to arrive, Varun Chakaravarthy got things going with a three-run over in which he too repeatedly foxed Kohli.
Did things become better?
kind of. In the following over, Maxwell and Kohli dismissed the mystery spinner in an attempt to lift RCB out of its post-PowerPlay rut. They got runs off of Narine and Harshit Rana while Maxwell was given two opportunities to escape by fumbled catches. But in the end, Starc, Russell, and Harshit bowled three excellent overs, mostly slower ones, to give up just 19 runs. After finding the going a little difficult in the middle overs, Kohli attacked Starc in the last over, striking him for a six. After RCB had been held back in the previous overs, Dinesh Karthik struck Russell for two sixes in the 19th over to take the team ahead. Starc concluded with statistics of 0 for 47 as RCB exceeded 180 runs with 29 runs in the final two overs. But in the end, that proved to be insufficient.
Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 186/3 in 16.5 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 50, Sunil Narine 47, Vijaykumar Vyshak 1-23) defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru 182/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 83*; Andre Russell 2-29) by 7 wickets.
What comes next?
On April 2, RCB will host the Lucknow Super Giants after a three-day break. On April 3, KKR travels to Vizag to play the Delhi Capitals, the “hosts.”
