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Punjab Kings (PBKS) debutant Vidwath Kaverappa made his first spell in the IPL count, dismissing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis at Dharamshala on Thursday, May 9. The right-arm pacer replaced Kagiso Rabada in the pace bowling unit for the must-win encounter.
The Karnataka pacer, who was handed his cap by Arshdeep Singh ahead of the encounter, was handed the new ball straightaway. He almost got the key wicket of Virat Kohli in his very first over, but Ashutosh Sharma spilled the chance. Despite conceding 11 runs, which included a couple of boundaries from Faf du Plessis, there was a lot of initial promise.
In his second over, Kaverappa bowled a length delivery well outside the off stump, which the RCB skipper chased in a bit to send it over cover. However, he could only connect it with the toe end of his bat, leading the ball to go straight to Shashank Singh at deep point. Have a look at Kaverappa's maiden wicket right here:
Du Plessis departed after scoring just nine runs off seven deliveries, prolonging his inconsistent campaign with the bat.
Kaverappa has witnessed three dropped catches by PBKS fielders off his bowling
Apart from Kohli's dropped catch as mentioned earlier, PBKS fielders let the debutant down on two more occasions inside his first spell. The ace batter got yet another reprieve as he was dropped off Kaverappa's last ball of his second over.
Rilee Rossouw tried to hold onto the ball after a dive to his left at short cover but couldn't hold onto the opportunity. It was not long before Kaverappa struck again, taking Will Jacks' key wicket, with Harshal Patel taking the catch. However, Patel dropped a chance at deep backward square to give Rajat Patidar a second chance.
Kaverappa bowled his entire spell on the trot, finishing with figures of 2-36 off his four overs. The second half of his spell was bleak compared to his new ball stint as he conceded a couple of sixes to ruin his figures and give RCB momentum.
