AB steals the show, bowlers run riot: 5 talking points from RCB v KKR

Every cog in the RCB wheel seemed to know its role, played it to perfection, and completed a ruthless thrashing of the Kolkata Knight Riders. An 82-run win was not misleading of the performance and was a deserving victory which reflected the upward trajectory the team is on. From the genius of AB de Villiers to a complete bowling performance, we look at five talking points from an impressive win over the Knight Riders.

Finch and Padikkal lay a solid foundation

Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch have been involved in 3 50+ partnerships so far this season for RCB. On all three occasions, RCB have gone on to win the game. While Padikkal has been a revelation at the top of the order, the senior pro, Finch, has been the perfect partner for a young cricketer making his way up the cricketing ranks. They complement each other’s games, it feels hardly believable that they have only been batting together for 7 games. Yet another 67-run stand at the top laid the perfect foundation. Taking advantage of the new ball was crucial as scoring became difficult with the ball softening up later on in the innings. Not losing a wicket in the powerplay is always a huge plus, and the duo has taken much of the pressure off the rest of the batting unit to follow.

The AB show

Cricket is a game that gets so much exposure that every possible angle it can be looked at from gets explored and over-analyzed to the limits. What are the conditions like, what would be a par score, how difficult is run-scoring on the track, would 160 be a defendable total and so on. AB walks out to the middle and makes it all sound so amateurish. On a track where no other batsman from across the two teams could get going, AB made run-scoring look like child’s play. 

De Villiers took his time in the beginning, but when it came to the final 5 overs of the innings, AB opened up. It did not matter to him what the field was or who was bowling to him. An innings studded with 5 fours and 6 maximums, a few of which disappeared into the streets of Sharjah took what could have been a score of 160-170 and turned it into a winning total of 194 on a slow and sluggish Sharjah track. 73 runs off 33 balls, 65 of them coming in the last 5 overs in which he faced 24 balls. Take a bow, AB de Villiers. You are one of a kind!

Spin twins choke the knights

With Sharjah’s small outfields, there was always a looming threat of the gaming being able to turn either way in a couple of overs. The previous over had yielded 16 runs, and KKR were beginning to flex their muscles when Washington Sundar came on to bowl inside the powerplay. Accurate as always, Sundar gave away only 3 runs and a leg bye. Chahal came on in the next and tightened the screws further conceding only 3 singles. Washington Sundar picked up Nitish Rana in the following over, bowing down to the relentless pressure created by the two RCB spinners. Chahal accounted for Karthik, Sundar accounted for Morgan. 

They bowled 7 overs on the trot between them. When they began their bowling spells, KKR were well in the game at 39/1 after 5. By the 12th over KKR were 69/5. Only 1 boundary conceded from 48 balls between them, a total of 21 dot balls and combined figures of 32/3 was as good a performance one could wish to witness.

Morris - the difference-maker?

Chris Morris’ inclusion has given the bowling unit the spearhead it needed. He has brought the intensity needed in the powerplay. When the likes of Andre Russell come in to bat, Captain Kohli has a premium fast bowler with a tonne of international experience to turn to. Need a tight over? No problem. Need a wicket? Bring on Morris. In the 8 overs he has bowled so far in the Red and Gold of RCB, Morris’ figures read an incredible 5/36 at an economy of 4.5. If ever there was a game-changer, Chris Morris is it.

An overall all-round bowling performance

RCB went into the game against KKR with 6 genuine bowling options. Every single one of them contributed to a complete bowling performance. While the Spin duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal shut shop during the middle overs and Chris Morris notched up yet another impressive spell, all the other bowlers played their roles to perfection. Mohammed Siraj looks like a bowler on a mission. Navdeep Saini brought the heat, a 148 KPH delivery knocking over Tom Banton’s off stump. Isuru Udana accounted for the huge wicket of Andre Russell, the only realistic player who could have produced a tense moment or two with a smart mix of slower deliveries and yorkers. Restricting a team to less than 6-an-over at a venue where 200+ scores have been a norm was one of the finest bowling efforts by a unit that now looks like a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders.