As if their miseries were not enough in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League, the beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore’s already low confidence took another beating after suffering another heavy 6-wickets defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday (May 7).
The match began on a usual note for the runners-up of last year with their top-order failing to fire once again. Put into bat, the home side lost Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers early on, as they found themselves reeling at 34 for 3 in the fifth over before being rescued by Mandeep Singh and Travis Head. The duo showed great maturity and added caution with aggression to steady the ship. Mandeep hit four fours and one six to score 52 from 43 while Head remained unbeaten on 75 off 47 balls to guide his team to a respectable total.
But what happened thereafter totally stunned one and all as the visitors rode on whirlwind fifties from Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn to chase down the total with over 4 overs remaining. Narine hit the joint-second fastest fifty in the history of IPL, reaching his maiden IPL fifty in just 15 deliveries while Lynn, returning from a injury lay off, scored his second fifty of the tournament in just 21 balls.
Speaking after the match, RCB skipper Virat Kohli reiterated the fact that his team is consistently failing to come out good as a unit before admitting that it has a been a season to forget for his team.
“I thought we got enough runs on the board especially the way this wicket has played in the season so far but that’s probably only our analysis of the wicket. The other teams have played better cricket than us on this pitch and we have suffered at home, we have suffered away. It’s been a season to forget. Really can’t pinpoint anything at the moment. Anything we are trying to do is not just happening. If the batting gets runs the bowling is not able to defend it. When the bowling gets the opposition out the batting is collapsing.It’s really strange, never seen something like this happen in T20 cricket so I really can’t sit down and think of anything,” Kohli said.
“It’s really energy-sapping and all you can do is carry on and accept what’s going on and keep trying your hardest,” he added.
When asked about whether Narine and Lynn’s batting hampered their confidence, a dejected Kohli said: “If you are hundred without loss in six overs, it certainly hurts. As I said, you are trying your best but things are just not coming together as a whole. To win the games, you need good performances with the bat or with the ball but it’s just one of the other. It’s not a complete performance so far, it’s been a disappointing season for us.”