IPL 2018: Match 29, RCB vs KKR - Who Said What

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered their fifth loss this season as they came second against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who were more clinical on the day. The home side missed AB de Villiers badly as even the score of 175 proved less on a small Chinnaswamy Stadium. Though one has to credit the bowlers of the visiting side who bowled well to keep the in-form Virat Kohli quiet. However, the lapses in the field also cost RCB the game as they failed to give their 100 percent even their skipper leading from the front every time.

After being inserted to bat first, RCB got off to the blistering start as their openers Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum batted cleverly. Both added 67 runs for the first wicket before the former was foxed by Kuldeep Yadav as they lost a couple more wickets quickly which forced the skipper Virat Kohli to take some time before going berserk in the death overs. He once again slammed a half-century and played a wonderful knock of 68 runs during which he hit 5 fours and 3 sixes.

KKR bowled well at the death as well and despite Kohli’s blitz, RCB could post a total of 175 runs for the loss of 4 wickets which looked like a little under-par at the halfway stage. The chase started well for KKR as Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn rode their luck by slashing at almost every ball. They brought up the best opening stand for their side for this season and added 59 runs. The rookie Murugan Ashwin scalped Narine after a brief rain break as he was caught at long-on.

Though the quick-fire partnership of 49 followed after with Robin Uthappa going bonkers from the word go. He smashed 3 fours and as many sixes before throwing his wicket to the same bowler which brought some interest in the match. But there were no hiccups in the chase whatsoever with Lynn determined to take his side home.

Man of the Match, Chris Lynn said:

Sort of been that type of season for me. Hasn’t been freeflowing. Not easy on those kind of wickets. Had to find a way, and bit of luck on my side tonight. Too hard to hit down the ground, those boys had it on a string there.

Sweeping was the method which I found to work for me. Got to play every situation. Kolkata doesn’t turn as much, gets through quicker. Might be easier to score boundaries there. Whatever the team needs, I’ll do the job.

Body is getting there. Support staff have been very good. Schedule’s tight, but I’m keeping the body intact. Got to keep the moustache now. Was going to get rid of it yesterday. Now we’ve got to get it trending in Kolkata. It’s all about having fun here in the IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Dinesh Karthik said:

There’s nothing special, nothing too bad about it, we’re right in the middle. Important we use some momentum that we got here Thought it was a par score. With AB not being there, we knew Virat was the big wicket. But he’s Virat, he came out all guns blazing.

I’m somebody who believes in trusting the eleven players, not making too many changes. I have a lot of time for them in life (U-19 players). They’re great kids. They’re learning. After winning a World Cup you generally have a bit of a chip on the shoulder, but not these guys.

Credit to Rahul Dravid too. They always have to say good things about him. When somebody like that is a coach at the U-19 level, it’s going to help you. Always trying to make sure to win the game. It’s always the path I’m trying to take when I go into bat.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, Virat Kohli said:

It’s a pretty surprising every time we bat. Looked better than it played (the track). 175 was a really good score I felt. If we field like that, we don’t deserve to win.

We need to be hard on ourselves and be more brave with the ball and in the field, we need to correct those things going forward. We didn’t deserve to win with the way we fielded. We weren’t just good enough tonight. I can’t pin-point anything at this point.

We got to win 6 out of 7 to qualify from here. Got to take every game as virtual semi-finals, there’s no room for complacency. Need guys stepping up their game at the right time. Hopefully, they understand that moving forward.