It seems like low-scoring games are now the trend of the IPL 2017 as we have been showered with numerous matches of small totals. Tonight, Virat Kohli decided to put Kolkata out to bat first on a tricky pitch at the Eden Gardens and we were treated to some beautiful bowling.
The home team started well as Sunil Narine went all-guns-blazing to give KKR a terrific start. However, after that, the rest of the batsmen struggled to make runs and KKR ended with a paltry total of 131.
In response, Royal Challengers Bangalore totally made a mess of, what seemed like, a simple chase. None of their batsmen could reach double figures and they were decimated for the lowest total in IPL history – 49 runs!
Here are 5 memorable moments from the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes:
#1 Sunil Narine continues his wrath
This is getting out of hand now, to be very honest. The way Sunil Narine is playing now, we are running out of adjectives to describe the West Indian. Once again, he was in great touch with the bat and he gave Kolkata Knight Riders a blazing start.
Scoring 34 runs in 17 balls, he smacked 6 boundaries and a six, which is almost similar to the feat he achieved in the last match as he scored 30 runs in boundaries itself.
Also Read: IPL 2017, KKR vs RCB: SK Play of the day, Sunil Narine smashing Samuel Badree for 18 runs
#2 Chahal’s impressive spell
It is not often that a player goes unnoticed by the selectors if he does well in the Indian Premier League. However, Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the few players who have been constantly overlooked by the Indian selectors. Nonetheless, his consistency in the tournament has stayed undeterred.
This match was just another good game in his young career. Bowling his quota of 4 overs, he gave away only 17 runs and took 3 wickets in the process. It was a spell that knackered the Knight Riders and didn’t allow them to post a big score.
#3 Chris Woakes’s handy all-round effort
The pitch in this match was a very difficult one for the batsmen. Almost every batsman had to struggle to make runs. The pitch was a bowler’s paradise and Chris Woakes made the best use of it.
With the ball, he took the wickets of Samuel Badree, Stuart Binny, and the dangerous Chris Gayle. He might have just bowled 2 overs, but he took 3 wickets in the process while giving away only 6 runs.
However, in the first innings, he made 18 runs - more than every RCB batsman – despite coming in at No. 8. When we factor in the fact that he is a bowler, his feat seems incredulous.
#4 Coulter-Nile’s furious start
A target of 132 is never an easy one to defend in a T20 match, especially against a batting line-up as strong as the Royal Challengers’. In order to save the match, Kolkata Knight Riders needed the big guns out quick—and Nathan Coulter-Nile duly obliged.
Opening the bowling for the hosts, Coulter-Nile absolutely desecrated Bangalore’s batting line-up with his fury. Taking the priceless wickets of Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Kedhar Jadhav, he ended the game with 3 wickets and a win for his team.
#5 Bangalore’s telephone number
If one took a glance at the scorecard of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, they could be forgiven for mistaking it for a telephone number. Indeed, no batsman in the Royal Challengers Bangalore line-up could cross the barrier of 10 runs and their personal score to double digits.
7, 0, 1, 8, 9, 8, 2, 0, 2, 5*, 0. These are the individual scores of the Bangalore batsmen in this game, which makes us wonder whether there is any unfortunate soul with the same set of numbers as their telephone number.
The failure of Bangalore’s batsmen to reach double digits also gave them an unwanted and embarrassing record! Their total of 49 runs is now the lowest ever by any team in the history of the IPL. Nobody would have expected RCB to ‘achieve’ this unfortunate record, considering the batting line-up they possess.
