RCB and KKR went into the match with different mindsets. KKR wanted to strengthen overall team, as well as Captain’s form. RCB were confident about their top 5 batsmen, even in the absence of Gayle, so wanted to test their already successful bowling unit of last two matches. As per the prediction, Gambhir flopped, completing hattrick of ducks, Kallis was successful. But, Yuvraj’s nervous slow innings brought KKR back in the match from nowhere and Vinay Kumar helped them win by 2 runs.
Match Turner Performance
Till 19th over of RCBs chase, KKR were losing. But the last over of match saw Vinay Kumar and Chris Lynn joining hands to take KKR to unexpected win. Vinay Kumar gave only 6 runs while RCB needed 9 runs to win, whereas Lynn took a spectacular catch of AB de Villiers on the boundary to seal the match for KKR.
Gambhir’s captainship was again in question on the use of Morne Morkel and Narine’s 4 overs for openers when the trio of Kohli, Yuvraj and Ab was still to come. If his intention was to take quick wickets, he could have used other three bowlers to contain them as if they could not contain the openers, they would have been slaughtered anyways by the deadly trio. Only Narine and Morkel cannot be assigned to save runs as well as take wickets. In the end, they again failed as a team, but they will be happy with the performance of Lynn, at least someone who can hit the ball hard and score, as well as consistency of Kallis as an allrounder.
RCB on the other hand should be thrilled the way Takawale gave a good start with Parthiv Patel. They used five full time bowlers, and ended up conceding more than what they had in the last two matches, although 150 run by opposition is still a good bowling performance. But, less number of batsmen had them on losing side as Yuvraj struggled, AB and Morkel did not click when required.
Teams for the Match
Considering that key 4 batsmen were enough to win matches, RCB played with 5 full time bowlers. Murali replaced Maddinson and Takawale replaced Sachin Rana. Learning from last two hammerings, KKR finally made at least some changes. Umesh Yadav replaced Chawla and Chris Lynn replaced Shakib Al Hasan.
KKR 150: Their Lowest, Highest Vs RCB in 2014
Having sent to bat first, for KKR the start was no different. Gambhir became the first batsmen in IPL to complete a hattrick of ducks, and this time he was plumb on the third ball of the match as Starc struck. The consistency of last two matches failed Manish Pandey followed his captain in the 2nd over scoring 5 runs in 3 balls. They were reeling at 10/2 in 1.2 overs when Kallis was joined by Chris Lynn, who was finally included replacing Shakib, who was partially successful in the last match. That was the only good thing happening to KKR so far in the tournament.
Chris Lynn added 80 runs in 10.1 overs with opener Kallis. He has 3 6s and 3 4s for his 31-ball 45 runs when he was caught on long on by AB de Villiers of the bowling of Aaron. In came another regular failure of KKR, Yusuf Pathan, who is lucky not be replaced so far. But, still no learning, as he needed just 2 balls to give a catch practice to Virat Kohli, his second catch of the match. By the time Aaron finished his third and RCBs 12th over, KKR were back to spot of trouble with 91/4.
Kallis was joined by Uthappa, who had an innings of his dream in the last match, as per his own admission. He was getting faster as per his pace when he was caught by Starc of Aaaron on 22 (18 balls, 1 six). Surprise package was Surya Yadav who scored unbeaten 18-ball 24 runs with a six and a four, but his inability to hit on both sides of the pitch restricted him from scoring more in the death overs, and with Vinay Kumar (5-ball 4 runs) unbeaten on other end, KKR scored their lowest total of 2014, 150/7, which is the highest against RCB by any team in three matches.
Varun Aaron was the pick of RCB bowlers. With his fiery pace he had 3/16 in 4 overs. Chahal conceded his first and only boundary of the 7th edition so far with 1/26. Dinda (0/26) was again good for the second consecutive match. Starc had 2/33 in 4 overs, while Albie Morkel (1/22) and Muralitharan (0/25) proved expensive in the 2 overs each bowled by both.
RCB Fall Short by 2 runs
Parthiv Patel and Takawale gave a dream start to the RCB chase. They did not only score 67 runs in 8 overs, but also troubled KKR more than they had bargained for. Morne Morkel lost his cool and almost got physical with Parthiv besides using some nice words, which was probably coming out of frustration of bowling 3 overs to small-level batsmen and still getting hit. Both milked him for 29 runs in 3 overs. Even Narine had to bowl an over although he gave only 1 run. Both went within 3 balls. In the first over of Kallis, Takawale (28-ball 40 runs with 8 4s) was plumb. Then on the first ball of 9th over bowled by Vinay Kumar Parthiv gave an easy catch to Lynn.
Grabbing two set batsmen could give confidence to any team. But probably not to KKR and Gambhir as after the opener’s onslaught RCB needed only 84 runs in 71 balls. Kohli and Yuvraj added 55 runs in 7.4 overs. Finally, Narine tasted blood with 1 ball of his quota remaining bowling out Kohli (23-ball 31 runs with 4 4s). But, with Morkel’s quota already over RCB has none left to challenge them as they needed 29 runs in remaining 25 balls. AB de Villiers joined Yuvraj whose struggle continued. He did score 34 runs with a six and 2 4s but took 34 balls. They added 19 runs in 2.5 overs. Finally Albie Morkel got the chance to bat in the current edition. They needed 10 runs of 8 balls. With 6 wickets left, RCB needed 9 in the last over bowled by Vinay Kumar. It went down to 6 runs from 3 balls. With catch of the season on boundary by Chris Lynn to send AB de Villiers back, they needed 6 runs in 2 ballls, with Morkel on strike and Starc joining him. With 4 needed of the final ball, Morkel could score only 1 and Vinay Kumar took KKR to victory by 2 runs.
For KKR, as expected Narine was the best with 1/17 in 4 overs. Kallis was good with 1/26 in 4 overs. Vinay Kumar impressive too. The opening bowlers Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel were clueless. Morkel paid price for his aggressive mood rather than aggressive bowling as the openers milked him and then bowling last over to Yuvraj and Kohli he finished with 0/34. Umesh Yadav was the most expensive with 1/40 in his 4 overs. With the match winning over Vinay had a figure of 2/26 for his 4 overs.
Varun Aaron: Best Bowler of the Match
He bowled quick, and he got results too. He gave away only 16 runs taking 3 wickets of middle order. The dangerous Chris Lynn, dangerous on paper, Yusuf Pathan, and Uthappa who was getting dangerous then in the match.
His first spell was of 2 overs when he bowled the 4th and 6th over of the innings. His first over was a 6-run over where Lynn hit a boundary. His 2nd over gave only 4 runs to Kallis to Lynn. Then he returned to bowl the 12th over and got Lynn and Pathan out giving only 2 runs. After that his last over came in the 18th over where he got Uthappa on first ball and then gave 4 runs to finish with 16/3.
Player of the Match: Chris Lynn
Chris Lynn got all the awards. Longest six, calm player of the match award for the match turning great catch, and obviously the Player of the Match award too for his knock of 31-ball 45 runs with 3 4s and 3 6s.
Leave a Reply