IPL 2019, RCB vs KKR: 3 reasons behind RCB’s morale-crushing loss

Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)
Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Royal Challengers Bangalore have gotten off to a poor start in IPL 2019, to say the least. Having lost all the matches they have played so far, they find themselves at the bottom of the IPL points table.

RCB have failed in all three departments (batting, bowling, and fielding) this year. And while the fans were expecting a change of fortunes in the match against KKR, that wasn’t to be.

After being put in to bat by Dinesh Karthik, RCB managed to score 205 runs in their 20 overs thanks to a brilliant partnership by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. But that was as good as it got for RCB.

Everything went downhill once they took the field to defend the target. With the exception of Mohammed Siraj, their fielding looked quite good. Their bowlers, however, just kept giving away a lot of free runs.

When compared to RCB’s earlier matches though, they actually played a lot better. They showed a lot of positive intent, but there were a few notable mistakes that could’ve been avoided. The end result of this match was the same: RCB lost yet another game to continue their losing streak.

So if RCB played well, then how did they end up losing the match? Here, we’ve highlighted the 3 big reasons behind RCB’s defeat to KKR:


1. RCB bowlers bowled a lot of extras

Mohammed Siraj (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)
Mohammed Siraj (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Many people don’t realize it, but sometimes the extras bowled can be the difference between victory and defeat. This statement was proved true in yesterday’s match, as effectively over 25 runs went to KKR as a result of extras.

First, Navdeep Saini bowled a front foot no-ball to Sunil Narine. The free hit that followed was dispatched for four. Then Siraj bowled another no-ball that was dispatched for six by Chris Lynn.

But the moment that perhaps cost RCB the match was when Siraj bowled a no-ball to Andre Russell, who hit a six off that. Russell didn’t waste the free hit as he dispatched the next ball into the crowd as well.

But it wasn’t just no balls that cost RCB this match. There was a lot of wides bowled as well, and one wide even went for four.

When you combine the extras and the runs that followed as a result of those extras, you can clearly see that RCB gave over 25 free runs to KKR. Had those errors been avoided by RCB’s bowlers, they could have restricted KKR to less than 200.

2. Southee bowling three overs in the powerplay

Tim Southee
Tim Southee

I found this tactic to be a bit strange by Virat Kohli. Tim Southee is an experienced death overs bowler, so it was strange to see him bowl three overs in the powerplay itself.

Southee's first over went for 16 runs. After that, Kohli still decided to throw the ball to the Kiwi pacer for another two overs.

Southee would have been more useful to RCB in the death. Even though his final over was too expensive, he could have turned things around if he had bowled the 18th and 20th overs. Remember, it was the 18th over from Mohammed Siraj that turned the game in Kolkata Knight Riders’ favor.

Southee, being the most experienced bowler in the team, should have been given more responsibility in the death overs.

3. Late introduction of spin

Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal

I will never understand why RCB refuse to trust their spinners to take wickets in the powerplay. Unlike other teams that don’t hesitate to bring in the spinners to bowl in the powerplay, RCB try to avoid utilizing their spinners at all costs during the first six overs.

This tactic was questioned by fans during RCB’s previous loss against Rajasthan Royals. Despite that, RCB again took too long to attack with their spinners.

It’s quite evident that Chris Lynn can’t play spin. Hence, as soon as Narine was dismissed, Kohli should have introduced either Yuzvendra Chahal or Pawan Negi into the attack.

In the end, Lynn was dismissed by Negi, but only after he had inflicted plenty of damage already. One can only wonder what would have happened if Kohli had decided to use spin much earlier instead of waiting till the 5th over.

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Edited by Musab Abid