The second leg of the IPL couldn’t have begun on a better note for Kolkata Knight Riders as they comprehensively beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by a massive margin of 9 wickets. The game began with RCB skipper Virat Kohli winning the toss and debatably deciding to bat first on a wicket that was slow to start off with.
The poor decision proved to be a costly one as the tackiness of the wicket, alongside the brilliant lengths of the KKR bowlers ensured the star-studded RCB batting line up never got going. They lost Kohli early, and that second wicket of Padikkal just opened up the flood gates. Debutant KS Bharat got done by pace, De Villiers was dismissed by a peach of a yorker by Dre Russ. Glenn Maxwell and Sachin Baby tried to string in a partnership, only for the former to throw his wicket away after a dry, boundary-less phase.
All five of the KKR bowlers were spot-on with their plans right from the word go. Seamers Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson and Andre Russell all ended up providing crucial breakthroughs for their side. Even the spinners Varun Chakravarthy & Sunil Narine were excellent with the ball, using the variations to good effect and keeping their economies to under 5 an over. Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets in the middle overs.
KKR needed a meagre 93 to get in their 20 overs, and they came out all guns blazing to ensure that they don’t just get the win, but also get a high NRR, with the playoff phase coming ever so closer. Their Openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer made it look like a piece of cake as they chased down 93 with 10 overs to spare. While this win gives KKR a wonderful momentum going ahead in the second leg, RCB will want to put this atrocious loss behind them and start afresh in their next game against table-toppers CSK in a few days’ time.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 