IPL 2019, RCB vs KKR: The worst captaincy decision of the day

Both the teams came into the match on the back of a loss but they came in contrasting situations. KKR had won three out of their four matches in IPL 2019 as they have emerged as one of the early favourites for the tournament. On the other hand, RCB had lost each of their first four matches this season.

KKR captain won the toss and invited RCB to bat first on a batting paradise. Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel provided a brilliant start to the hosts before part-timer Nitish Rana took the wicket of Patel. This dismissal brought Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers at the crease together, which delighted the crowd.

The duo launched a merciless attack on the KKR bowlers who were running out of ideas to stop the onslaught. The two built together a 108 run partnership as RCB looked set to cross the score of 200. Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine dismissed Virat Kohli and ABD in successive overs to bring KKR back in the match. Marcus Stoinis played a nice little cameo to take the first innings score past 200.

KKR got off to a quick start before Sunil Narine was caught at the deep fine leg. Then Lynn and Uthappa put KKR in a great position as KKR looked set to chase the target.

There were two right-handers on the crease so Kohli decided to go with the left-arm spinner who can turn the ball away from them. The move paid off as Negi dismissed the pair in consecutive overs to derail the KKR's innings.

Nitish Rana played a good innings but KKR captain Dinesh Karthik took his time at the crease. When Chahal took the wicket of Nitish Rana the required run rate was more than 15 which was never going to be easy.

When Dinesh Karthik got out, the task seemed too big even for the great Andre Russell. At one stage, KKR needed 52 off 16 balls but Russell launched an onslaught to win the game out of nowhere for KKR. Virat Kohli missed a trick in the 19th over by not bringing Pawan Negi in the attack. He gave the ball to Southee who was helpless in front of Russell as he scored 29 runs in that over.

KKR won the match with five balls to got to be second in the IPL Points Table, while RCB has now lost five in a row.