The people of Bengaluru thronged the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the last league game in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League as the Royal Challengers Bangalore locked horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first match of the day. The home side have endured a horror run in the tournament and will be looking to salvage some pride in the last few games.
The last time these two heavyweights met in the first leg of the tournament, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were bundled out for 49, which is the lowest score in the history of the Indian Premier League. While the Challengers are playing for pride, the Knight Riders will look to consolidate their points tally at the top of the table.
Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bowl first on a dry surface which he believed will remain good for the duration of the match. The Bangalore-based franchise made a poor start in this much-awaited clash as they lost Chris Gayle off the very first ball of the match. The opening batsman has had a horrible run in the tournament and his dismal performance with the bat at the top of the order is one of the main reasons for his team’s downfall.
Virat Kohli walked in at No. 3 to steady the tottering ship of the Bangalore outfit but the captain has been out of form in this edition as he has struggled with his timing ever since his come back into the side post his shoulder injury.
Umesh Yadav gave the visiting side a perfect start to the match by scalping the big wicket of Gayle and he returned for his second over to provide the moment of the match for the Knight Riders.
The event
Virat Kohli was striving hard to make use of the field restrictions by trying to play a few shots upfront and get his innings going. Unfortunately for him and the Challengers, he failed to find his timing right from the start of the innings.
The 28-year-old was given a lifeline in the fourth ball of the third over by Piyush Chawla at mid off. Kohli tried to hoist a full toss outside the off stump over mid off but failed to find the middle of the bat. The ball ballooned in the air just over mid off but Chawla running backwards, failed to hold on to a tough chance.
The drop did not prove to be very costly as the flamboyant batsman was dismissed off the next delivery, courtesy a brilliant slower delivery by the Indian speedster. The change of pace by Yadav caught Kohli off guard and was a bit too early with his attempted flick. The ball missed the bat and went on to hit the back leg of Kohli, catching him plumb in front of the wicket.
Watch the video of the brilliant slower delivery here: 00:21 Video M46: RCB vs KKR – Virat Kohli Wicket 1 hr 56 mins ago
In the context of the game
Just as the Bangalore outfit were starting to recover from their early jitters, AB De Villiers was sent back for 10 runs in the fifth over of the innings. The star-studded batting line up stumbled once again as they failed to break the jinx of their bleak season with the bat.
With the big three back in the pavilion with just 34 runs on the board, the middle order was under tremendous pressure to perform and bail the side out. Mandeep Singh and Travis Head did exactly that as they forged a crucial partnership of 71 runs for the fourth wicket. The duo provided the Challengers with some stability in the middle overs and launched a platform for a late flourish at the back end of the innings.
Head provided the Challengers with a late blitz as he smashed Umesh Yadav for 21 runs in the last over of the first innings which included a boundary and two huge hits over the fence.
The Australian top scored with an unbeaten 75 runs in his 47-ball stay and combined with Mandeep Singh to ensure that the Bangalore-based franchise reach a respectable total of 158 runs.
The wicket at the Chinnaswamy looks to be very dry and is expected to slow down, even resulting in the odd ball holding up.
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