All-round RCB trounce Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs

Well, it just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? If the previous game against the Chennai Superkings was a huge confidence-booster, the win against the Knight Riders was a complete performance if ever there was one. An 82-run win in Sharjah, overtaking the team just above in the points table was as satisfying a win as it could get.

The boundaries may have looked like a bad miniature imitation of a cricket ground, but Sharjah put across tough questions for the batsmen. The new ball was coming onto the bat, and Devdutt and Finch got RCB off to a solid start. Not a single wicket lost in the powerplay laid the perfect platform for the rest of the batting to follow. RCB are yet to lose a game this season when the openers have put on a 50+ stand, and the record remains intact after another 67-run stand against KKR.

However, the main event of the night was the AB de Villiers show. The pitch looked like it had slowed down. The KKR bowlers looked on top. The boundaries had dried up. But, none of those matters when AB is in the mood. And boy, was he in the mood on the night! A couple of balls disappeared onto the streets of Sharjah. And then the full range of shots started coming out. Pat Cummins disappeared, so did Andre Russell. By the end of the 20 overs, 84 runs had been scored off the last 30 balls; AB de Villiers had faced 24 off those and smashed 65 runs. While it is rarely the case, although we cannot recall such an instance, Virat Kohli was prepared to gracefully play second fiddle as AB de Villiers tore apart the KKR bowling.

A target of 195 was definitely not going to be safe, and the bowlers needed to be on their game against a power-packed KKR batting lineup. A 148 KPH jaffa sent Tom Banton’s off stumps cartwheeling, and that set the tone to what was to follow. If Sharjah was to be feared as a spinners graveyard, the RCB spin duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal proved everyone wrong. The lockdown might gradually be lifting across the country, but clearly, the two RCB spinners did not get the memo. Not only did they not allow KKR’s run rate cross beyond 7-an-over, but also knocked over the KKR middle order. 

The final realistic hurdle between RCB and a win was Andre Russell. When Devdutt Padikkal’s fingertips could not trap the ball at long-off, a bit of jitter might hive started to appear amongst the RCB ranks. But, having already taken a catch to see the back of Eoin Morgan and having affected the run out of Shubman Gill, Isuru Udana accounted for the muscleman from the Caribbean. The result of the game was never going to be in doubt once Russell made his way back to the dugout. RCB had restricted the KKR batting to less than a run-a-ball at Sharjah, registering a massive 82-run win, knocking the Knight Riders down to fourth and notching up the 5th win in the first 7 games of the Dream11 IPL 2020. A perfect all-round performance and one that will be a massive step towards a playoff spot.