Magical Hasaranga overcomes Yadav-Southee scare

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the sixth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Wanindu Hasaranga was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Captain Faf marshals his troops

RCB came into the game after being brushed aside by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their previous game. RCB had scored 205 in that match and gone one to lose with an over to spare. Such a defeat could be crushing for any team, but Faf du Plessis and company came back strong on Wednesday night.

After winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, the men in red were on song. KKR found runs at a decent rate, but the bowlers kept chipping away at wickets. There was a point where it looked like crossing the three-digit mark was a tall ask. Were it not for Andre Russell’s brutal clobbering of the ball and a 27-run last wicket stand, the KKR total would have been well under par.

All in all though, RCB would have been happy with restricting the Knight Riders to 128, which seemed sub-par at the time.

Deep and Hasaranga repay the faith

RCB bowlers had had a less than ideal game against PBKS, and Wednesday was their time to bounce back. Most eyes were on Akash Deep and Wanindu Hasaranga, with the two still being new to playing in the IPL.

Deep struck first for RCB with the wicket of Venkatesh Iyer. While his raw pace did mean the batters found some extra runs, Deep dismissed Nitish Rana in the powerplay as well. Hasarnaga operated from one end as soon as the powerplay ended, and bamboozled the opposition.

He first got rid of the KKR skipper, Shreyas Iyer, by tempting him with a beautifully flighted delivery which he hit straight to long-on. In his next over, he dismissed Sunil Narine and Sheldon Jackson off consecutive deliveries. Sam Billings was Hasarnaga’s final victim, who finished his spell with 4 wickets at the expense of 20 runs.

RCB middle order steps up

Chasing 129 seemed a meagre task for the star-studded RCB lineup. However, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee struck in the first three overs of the powerplay, leaving the batting side feeling a bit queasy.

David Willey and Sherfane Rutherford then worked on building a gritty partnership. Neither batter went over a strike rate of 100, which could be afforded given the low run chase. The pair looked to play out most bowlers, before finally attacking Varun Chakravarthy and Russell.

Following Willey’s dismissal, Shahbaz Ahmed was promoted to have the insurance of Dinesh Karthik lower down the order. Ahmed played his role, striking three sixes in his 20-ball 27, and adding some much needed impetus to the innings.

Panic may have set in the RCB dugout after Tim Southee picked up two wickets in an over, and even the batters. Karthik and Harshal Patel were involved in a mix-up, and almost lost a third wicket in the same over, were it not for some frantic decision making from Yadav in the field. In the end, Patel and Karthik finished the game calmly, letting all those associated with RCB heave a sigh of relief.

Iyer and team nearly pull off heist

Almost anyone would have forgiven KKR for not defending 128 in an IPL match. Yet, at the end of the night, most people felt for them after coming so close.

The tone was set perfectly by Southee and Yadav, who dismissed Anuj Rawat, du Plessis and Virat Kohli within the first three overs. The bowlers constantly added pressure, especially Sunil Narine, who continuously outfoxed the batters in the middle. If it weren’t for a slight misjudgment in the field regarding a runout, the game could have most certainly been theirs for the taking.

Looking back, Shreyas Iyer could be proud of making a 128-run total look more like 158, and using all resources available as best as he could. With Australian Pat Cummins yet to join the squad, it looks like the Knight Riders’ depth will only increase from here.