IPL 2018, KKR vs RCB: Hits and Misses

Batting first, RCB lost Quinton de Kock but Brendon McCullum’s 43 ensured they got off to a good start.

After his dismissal, AB De Villiers continued the momentum created by McCullum. Virat Kohli struggled but did well in the partnership with De Villiers as the duo set up the platform for a big score.

But both of them were dismissed by Nitish Rana off successive deliveries. Mandeep Singh’s 18-ball 37 helped RCB get to 176.

KKR then got off to a flying start with Sunil Narine scoring a blazing 50 in just 17 balls. But RCB clawed their way back with a splendid spell from Umesh Yadav.

At 83/3, things looked pretty dicey for KKR, but Rana and Dinesh Karthik stabilised the innings with a 55-run stand.

But once again a couple of quick wickets started to make things interesting. But Karthik (35 off 29 balls) once again kept his cool and showed great maturity to take KKR home with seven balls to spare.

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#5 Hit: Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav was superb in the middle-overs

Umesh Yadav has had an indifferent last few months. After he was India’s premier fast bowler in their home season in 2016/17, he found himself warming the benches as Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma got the nod ahead of him.

The last time he played for India was in November against Sri Lanka in the second Test.

After playing four seasons with KKR, Yadav was picked by RCB in the auction. Defending 176, KKR were off to a flying start but it was Yadav who applied the brakes.

He dismissed the dangerous Sunil Narine in his first over and then dismissed Robin Uthappa in his next over.

He was bowling with great control and his pace was up. It was a terrific spell as he had figures of 2/12 in three overs.

It was good aggressive bowling as he troubled the KKR batsmen with pace. Despite going for 15 in his last over, he was the pick of the RCB bowlers.

#4 Miss: Quinton De Kock

De Kock just scored four runs and was dismissed in the second over

Quinton De Kock came into this IPL with just two fifties in his last 16 international innings. He had a poor series against India, but in the series against Australia he got starts but couldn’t convert them.

It was expected that one of De Kock or McCullum would make the playing XI but RCB decided to go in with both making it a scary top four.

The duo opened the batting and McCullum got RCB off to a great start as he struck two fours and a six in the first over.

De Kock got a boundary of the first ball he faced as well. He hit a very good cover-drive against Piyush Chawla to get off the mark.

But he played a couple of dots balls before he tried a fancy reverse-sweep. He top-edged the reverse-sweep and was caught at the short third man and it gave KKR an early breakthrough.

#3 Hit: Nitish Rana

After picking up a couple of wickets with the ball, Rana scored a vital 34

Nitish Rana made his List ‘A’ debut in 2013 and his first-class debut in 2015. He was one batsman who was rated pretty highly by Gautam Gambhir and the latter wanted Delhi cricket to back this youngster.

Rana made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in 2016, but it was in 2017 when he got a longer run. He scored 333 runs in 13 innings and was an integral part of the MI middle-order.

Playing for KKR this season, he got off to a very good start. Rana bowled just one over before today’s game in the IPL, but in this game, he was given the ball.

De Villiers and Kohli had stitched a good partnership and he bowled a half-tracker first ball which was dispatched for six by the South African.

But off the next couple of balls, he turned the game on its head as he dismissed both De Villiers and Kohli off consecutive deliveries. That was the only over he bowled and he picked up two important wickets.

With the bat, Rana came out to bat after the dismissal of Narine. KKR then lost another wicket and were reduced to 83/3, but Rana played a good hand of 34 and shared a crucial 55-run partnership with skipper Karthik.

#2 Miss: Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar had a rare off day

Washington Sundar has been the talk of the town in the past few weeks. In the IPL last year, he was called in as the replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin and he had a dream season.

He took eight wickets in 11 games but it was his economy (6.17) and his ability to remain calm under pressure and bowl crucial overs that impressed everybody.

After an impressive T20 debut in December, Sundar was selected for the Nidahas Trophy where he became India’s go-to bowler.

He bowled brilliantly in the powerplay giving India the control they needed. The 18-year-old took eight wickets in five games and was the Man of the Series.

He was picked by RCB for Rs 3.2 crore and was expected to play a crucial role. However, his first outing for RCB didn’t go well.

His first over was taken for 10 runs in his first over and then Narine got stuck into him and he was smashed for 19 runs in his second over.

He then gave another 19 runs in his final two overs and finished with 1/48 (he picked up the wicket of Rana in his last over).

He also dropped a catch at the deep cover boundary in the 19th over of the innings.

It was a game to forget for Sundar.

#1 Hit: Sunil Narine

Narine's blitz in the powerplay set up the game for KKR

Sunil Narine has been facing a lot of issues of late, especially with his bowling action. He was once again reported for his action in March while playing the PSL.

However, the KKR management kept a lot of faith in the West Indian and backed him completely.

With Mitchell Starc ruled out, Narine was going to hold the key in the bowling department. He delivered with the ball once again.

With another remodelled action, Narine was hard to score off and he kept the lid on the scoring rate as well. He also picked up the wicket of the dangerous-looking Brendon McCullum.

Narine then walked out to open the batting along with Chris Lynn and started with a bang. Off the first ball of the innings, the West Indian mystery spinner smashed Yuzvendra Chahal over his head for a boundary to kick-start the innings.

Despite losing Lynn in the second over, Narine didn’t hold back. He hit Chris Woakes for 20 runs and Washington Sundar for 19 runs in the fourth and fifth over respectively.

In the process, he brought up his second IPL fifty and it was the joint-fourth fastest in the history of the league. He struck four fours and five sixes in his innings.

Also, it was his second fifty against RCB a side whom he loves batting against. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

Sunil Narine vs RCB in IPL:1(1)*34(17)54(17)50(19)139 runs54 balls16 fours10 sixesSR 257.40#KKRvRCB #IPL2018

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) April 8, 2018