IPL Match 48: Five Talking points of RCB VS KKR
Dec 22, 2018 at 5:17 PM
Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets at Eden Gardens just few moments ago. Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen scored a competitive total of 183 but AB De Villiers and Kohli reached the target with 8 balls to spare. RCB are now 5th spot on the points table with 2 games to go.
- Early wicket of Uthappa raising Bangalore hopes
RCB won the toss and elected to field. Kolkata Knight Rider’s openers Uthappa and Gambhir began the innings on a good note scoring 8 runs in the first over, while in the next over the partnership scored 6 runs. Virat Kohli brought spinner Iqbal Abdulla and in the second ball of third over he dismissed Uthappa at the score of 14 runs which raised the hopes of Royal Challengers Bangalore team of restricting KKR to low total.
- Partnership between Gambhir and Pandey steadied the innings
After the early wicket of Uthappa, Pandey stroked the first ball for a boundary. The captain Gambhir looked in great touch by hitting 3 boundaries of Arvind bowling. Both of them took toll of the bad balls delivered the Royal Challengers bowlers. At the end of six overs Kolkata were 51 for 1. After the break, Pandey and Gambhir continued to milk the bowlers with excellent hitting by both of them. Gambhir completed his half century in 31 balls. In the 11th over Gambhir was run out which ended 73 runs for the second wicket in 8.1 overs which steadied the KKR innings.
- Andre Russell quick fire knock
Russell came to the crease after the fall of Yusuf Pathan wicket. At that moment score was 118 for 4 in the 15th over. In the next over Yadav too got out. KKR team took a break and after the break Russell smashed the RCB bowlers to all parts of the ground in the last five overs. He played some power shots which unsettled RCB bowlers. His quick fire knock 39 off 19 balls helped KKR to post 183 which looked impossible after the fall of quick wickets in the middle.
- Explosive opening partnership
Chasing a target of 184, the RCB openers put on 71 runs in 7.3 overs laying a sound foundation. Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli gave the team a flying start. Chris Gayle who looked out of form in the tournament so far, revived his storke play to score 49 runs off 31 balls. Kohli continued his excellent form not only in the opening partnership but also in unfinished partnership for second wicket. In the 3rd over Gayle smashed his West Indies teammate Andre Russell for two sixes and Kohli struck a boundary. Gayle scored 42 runs and Kohli made 21 off 13 balls, In the power play overs taking the team’s score to 63 for 0.
- AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli stole the show
AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli stole the show with an unfinished partnership of 115 in 11.5 overs. Both of them attacked the KKR spinners and did not allow them to settle on a particular line and length. It was another excellent display by two of best batsmen of world cricket today. Virat Kohli completed his half century off 41 balls with a boundary of Shakib Al Hasan and AB De Villiers also reached his fifty of 29 balls helping RCB to register a comfortable win. Kohli was named man of the match for his 75 not out. No KKR bowler was able to put control on the run of these two batsmen.