IPL 2023: KKR bounce back with a win over RCB
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Knight Riders successfully defended 200/5, restricting RCB to 179/8. Virat Kohli scored 54 in a losing cause, while Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets. Earlier, Jason Roy and Nitish Rana powered KKR's innings. KKR have finally won after losing four consecutive encounters.
How did the match pan out?
KKR were off to a flier after RCB elected to field. While N Jagadeesan departed, Roy slammed a scintillating half-century. Venkatesh Iyer and Rana took over after KKR were reduced to 88/2. Rinku Singh and David Wiese helped KKR reach 200. Kohli powered RCB's innings but lost Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. Although Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, and Dinesh Karthik struck, RCB fell short.
Sixth opening pair for KKR
As stated, Roy and Jagadeesan opened for KKR after RCB elected to field. They became the sixth opening pair for them in eight matches this season (12th since IPL 2022). While Jagadeesan remained watchful, Roy was all guns blazing in the Powerplay. The latter smoked four sixes off Shahbaz Ahmed to end this phase. The Knight Riders were 66/0 after six overs.
KKR's highest PP score in IPL 2023
As per Cricbuzz, KKR registered their highest PP score this season. They surpassed their previous-best score of 62/3 against SRH at Eden Gardens. This was the first time KKR did not lose a wicket in the first six overs in the ongoing IPL season. Interestingly, KKR had lost at least two wickets in this phase in each of their first seven matches.
A fine half-century from Roy
Roy, who has been in blazing form, notched up a 22-ball half-century in the eighth over. The England batter whacked his second consecutive fifty after slamming a 26-ball 61 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Roy now has four half-centuries in the cash-rich league. The 32-year-old ended up scoring 56 off 29 balls, a knock laced with 4 fours and 5 sixes.
Another fifty for Kohli
Kohli continues his dominance at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He brought up a 33-ball half-century in the 11th over. RCB's stand-in skipper, Kohli scored his fifth half-century of the ongoing season, now the joint-most with du Plessis. It was Kohli's 49th half-century in the cash-rich league. He smashed 54 off 37 balls with the help of 6 fours.
Third-most runs against KKR
During the match, Kohli became just the fourth player to complete 850 runs against KKR in the IPL. Kohli, who now has 861 runs against the Knight Riders, surpassed Shikhar Dhawan (850) in this regard. David Warner leads the list with 1,075 runs, while Rohit Sharma (1,040) follows Warner. Notably, Kohli smashed his fifth half-century against KKR in the IPL.
Karthik's association with run-outs
Dinesh Karthik came in the middle after RCB lost Lomror in the 12th over. He played a crucial knock (22) to keep RCB afloat but couldn't do the job. During his stay, Suyash Sharma got run-out in the 13th over. As per Cricbuzz, Karthik has now been involved in 39 run-outs, the most in the tournament. Rohit follows Karthik with 37 of them.
The pick of KKR's bowlers
Mystery spinner Chakravarthy took the important wickets of Maxwell, Lomror, and Karthik in the second innings. Chakravarthy was the pick of KKR's after having conceded just 27 runs in four overs. Chakravarthy, who has been in sublime form this time, finished with the lowest economy rate (6.80). Suyash Sharma and Andre Russell took two wickets each.
