IPL 2018, RCB vs KKR: Hits and Misses

Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a huge blow before the game as AB de Villiers was down with viral fever and hence had to miss the game. The hosts made four changes as Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field first.

Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock gave RCB a good start as they shared a 67-run stand. But the hosts lost three quick wickets and were on the back foot. However, an excellent knock from skipper Kohli took RCB to a competitive total of 175.

Chasing a par total on a slowish Chinnaswamy pitch, KKR got off to a flying start as Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn took the attack to the RCB bowlers and shared a blistering 59-run stand before Narine’s luck ran out.

Robin Uthappa then scored a sublime 36 before throwing it away. Lynn roared back into form as he struck an uncharacteristic 52-ball 62. Dinesh Karthik walked in at No. 6 and scored a 10-ball 23 to help KKR get over the line.

RCB were quite poor in the field as they dropped Lynn early and the ground fielding was below par as well. Hence, KKR registered their fourth win of the season on the back of a 6-wicket win in Bangalore.

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#5 Hit: Kuldeep Yadav

Yadav has had an up and down season so far. He’s taken wickets but has been quite expensive. He was often bowling with the powerplay and with the field restrictions batsmen did go after him. Before today’s game, the chinaman bowler had taken 6 wickets at an economy of 8.51. He was also quite expensive in the last two games and didn’t complete his quota as well.

In this game, Kuldeep came into the attack right after the powerplay and bowled an unchanged four-over spell. He began with a 12-over over as Brendon McCullum struck a six off the last ball of his first over. But the chinaman came back really well as he dismissed Quinton de Kock on the first ball off his second over to break the 67-run opening partnership.

He then showed great control and ended with figures of 1/20 in his 4 overs. He conceded just 8 runs in his last 3 overs as KKR pulled things back after a good opening stand.

#4 Miss: Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav had an off-day both with the ball and on the field.

Umesh Yadav has been one of RCB’s best bowler in this season. He’s been excellent in the powerplay where he has been taking wickets and giving RCB good starts with the ball. He got at least one wicket in the powerplay in almost every game.

However, it was a disappointing outing for Umesh Yadav in this as he leaked a lot of runs upfront. Yadav shared the new ball with Tim Southee and bowled the second over of the game.

He conceded a six and a four off his first two deliveries as Sunil Narine took the attack to the Vidarbha pacer in his first over. He was made to change ends, but his fortunes didn’t change as this time Chris Lynn struck a six and a four.

He came back to the 13th over and did well with the first 5 deliveries before conceding a six off the last delivery. He had been taken for 32 runs in his 3 overs and hence, he only came back in the final over when just 4 runs were required.

Yadav was also poor in the field where he misjudged a return catch as he was slow in turning back from his follow-through and Narine was the batsman on that occasion. He then dropped a difficult chance off Murugan Ashwin and it gave Nitish Rana a second life.

#3 Hit: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli's 68 helped RCB post 175.

Virat Kohli hasn’t quite set the stage on fire in this season of the IPL. He did score two very good half-centuries (57 and 92) but both of them came in a losing cause. In this game, RCB were already without AB de Villiers who sat out due to viral fever. Hence, the burden and pressure on Kohli was much more.

The RCB skipper walked out to bat after a good opening partnership. At 67/1, RCB needed to consolidate on the good start but that score soon reduced to 75/3. Kohli was also not timing it well at the start but he did well to rotate the strike when the boundaries had dried up.

But once he found his timing, he was superb at the death. He struck the ball beautifully and took the attack to the KKR bowlers. Kohli finished with a very good 68 in 44 deliveries. He hit 5 fours and 3 sixes as he made up for a slowish start at the end.

It might not have been the most fluent innings but it was an innings of character from the RCB captain as he took RCB to a competitive total of 175.

#2 Miss: Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson has been under-par in this season.

After a disappointing last game where he gave away 42 runs and failed to pick up a wicket, Mitchell Johnson’s place was under threat for this game.

After a couple of quiet overs, Johnson was brought into the attack. He conceded 14 runs as RCB got much-needed momentum in the powerplay. He then came back to the 14th over and once again conceded a boundary off his first delivery to release the pressure created by Kuldeep Yadav from the other end.

He was then summoned to bowl the final over and conceded 16 runs which helped RCB get past the 170-run mark. Johnson for the second game in a row was expensive as he ended with figures of 0/38 (in 3 overs) in this game.

#1 Hit: Chris Lynn

The sweep was Chris Lynn's go-to shot against the spinners in this game.

Chris Lynn had got starts in this season but largely looked scratchy. His only innings of substance came against Kings XI Punjab when he scored an excellent 74. He was struggling against spin and teams have planned to start with spin against the hard-hitting Aussie batsman.

In this game, it was a very different Chris Lynn that was on display. He tried to take his time at the start and give himself some time. And that strategy worked quite well as he struck a match-winning 62 to take KKR over the line. He was dropped early on in his innings (when he was batting on 7) and he made full use of the opportunity.

Lynn was quite sedate throughout his 52-ball knock as he looked to counter his weakness against spin with a barrage of sweep shots. It came off as even though he didn’t get a lot of boundaries with the sweep shot it helped him rotate the strike better. He looked much more comfortable against the spinners in this game and it was one of the main reasons why he came out on top.

His knock of 62 helped him win the Man of the Match for the first time in this season.

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