RCB vs KKR, Talking Points: ‘RussellMania’ hits Chinnaswamy
From Russell's memorable knock to Siraj's nightmare, a look at the highlights from KKR's third win of the season
Friday night will be remembered for some time to come. Both Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore will remember it but for different reasons. (READ: The eight balls of Russell mayhem)
Andre Russell‘s incredible hitting towards the fag end of KKR’s chase sealed them one of their most memorable wins in Indian Premier League‘s history as they hunted down 206 with five deliveries to spare.
Here we take a look at the highlights from their third win of the season:
Russell storm blows RCB away
It’s not every night that a team ends up on the losing side defending 205 when they have left their opponents needing 66 runs off 24 deliveries. But such has been Russell’s form this IPL that you are left to wonder what is the safe total against him? We’ll have to wait for the answer but what he did on Friday night would have left RCB incredibly hurt. Russell walked in when KKR had just lost their fourth wicket and then he witnessed his captain Dinesh Karthik hole out after hitting consecutive boundaries. He had faced just two deliveries when KKR lost their fifth wicket and needed 53 off 18. Virat Kohli brought in Mohammed Siraj. He was suspended midway for bowling a beamer which Russell dispatched for his first six. Marcus Stoinis came on to complete the over and was immediately hit for a six. 23 runs from the over. Kohli brought in Tim Southee, playing in his first game of the season and one of the better death-overs bowlers. Russell blasted four sixes and a four off the Kiwi. 29 runs from the 19th over brought KKR on level terms with RCB. They needed just one off the final six. Russell finished unbeaten on 13-ball 48 that featured one four and seven sixes.
The Kohli-De Villiers show
It was waiting to happen. Kohli and AB de Villiers, two of the modern-day greats, in the same team and your imagination runs wild. Having lost their first four matches, the duo must have been itching to break the rut. The foundation was laid by the RCB opening pair of Kohli and Parthiv Patel that added 64 runs. What followed was even better. Kohli and De Villiers added 108 runs for the second wicket after both were put down at different points during the innings. Kohli scored 84 off 49 with nine fours and two sixes. De Villiers struck 32-ball 63 which had five fours and four sixes – his second fifty of the season.
Spinners hold their own amidst the mayhem
Bengaluru dished out a batting-friendly surface. True to its nature, it produced 411 runs in 40.1 overs. It was a nightmare of a pitch of bowlers, especially the pacers. It’s hard to believe considering the amount of runs scored that the spinners did plug the flow whenever in operation. KKR spinners boasted a combined figure of 14-0-115-3. Meaning, the rest six, bowled by pacers, resulted in 90 runs. RCB used two spinners who bowled 7.1 overs between them for 45 runs and three wickets. It was strange for the home team to have not at all utilised the services of Moeen Ali on a pitch where spinners were being effective in halting the batsmen. Did Kohli erred in not bowling Moeen?
Siraj’s forgettable night
Young pacer Siraj will like to forget this night as soon as possible. Nothing went right for him against KKR. He bowled 14 deliveries for 36 runs, was taken off midway through his over for bowling beamer and dropped two catches as well. He failed to complete easy catches offered by Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana. Although, he must have felt a sigh of relief as the duo failed to capitalise on the lives. Lynn added just a single to his total while Rana was out of the next delivery after being dropped.