2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by RCB in their IPL 2024 match vs KKR

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered another heartbreak in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat them by a narrow one-run margin at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, April 21.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Bengaluru did a decent job with the ball to restrict Kolkata's power-packed batting lineup to 222/6. While it seemed like RCB were in control of the chase at various points, they succumbed to a defeat on the back of some bizarre decision-making.

On that note, here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by RCB in their IPL 2024 match against KKR.

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#3 Mistake - RCB gave Lockie Ferguson an over early in the powerplay

After Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal bowled the first three overs, it seemed like RCB were doing enough to shackle the KKR openers. However, Faf du Plessis threw it all away with a poor decision to throw the ball to Lockie Ferguson in the fourth over.

Despite Dayal getting the ball to move around in his first over, the second of the innings, he was taken out of the attack. Ferguson, who isn't known for his skills in the powerplay, was always going to be attacked by Sunil Narine and Phil Salt.

Salt was the man who did the damage as he smashed four fours and two sixes off Ferguson to take 28 runs off the over. It was a poor tactical move from Du Plessis, who had many better options than the Kiwi quick at that stage.

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#2 Masterstroke - Mohammed Siraj and Co. shackled Sunil Narine successfully

The day didn't end well for Siraj, but he started off with success [Image Courtesy: iplt20.com]

Sunil Narine's two-wicket burst ended up making a difference for KKR, but the aggressive West Indian couldn't contribute much with the bat. That was largely because RCB got their bowling plans spot-on to him.

Siraj and Dayal weren't willing to give Narine anything in his arc. They either cramped him for room by aiming for the base of his pads or angled the ball across him at near-yorker lengths. The opener managed just 10 runs off 15 balls before being caught at long-off, which was a smartly placed field position.

Bengaluru could've found themselves chasing an unattainable total if they had let Narine get off the blocks quickly. For the first time this year, a team managed to shackle the southpaw.

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#1 Mistake - RCB's batters didn't plan the chase well at all

Green hoicked Narine to deep midwicket [Image Courtesy: iplt20.com]

When Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar were at the crease, RCB were well in control of the chase, with the required run rate coming under 10 with eight wickets in hand. In the span of two overs, though, it all came tumbling down.

Jacks found long-on off Andre Russell, and Patidar took another big risk in the same over to bring two new batters to the crease. Cameron Green then tried to smash Narine out of the park in the next over, only to find deep midwicket as the ball stopped a bit of him. Mahipal Lomror fell off the last ball of that over, too.

Even later in the innings, Dinesh Karthik tried to farm the strike during the penultimate over but tried to hit the last ball for a boundary to lose his wicket. That conflict in strategy ended up costing RCB, who fell only one run short.