It was a night when Kohli got out on a duck. It was a night when the line up consisting of Gayle, Kohli and A B de Villiers couldn’t reach 50. One falls short of adjectives to describe what the KKR pacers achieved tonight. In a batsman dominated era, when the slower one is the most potent weapon any bowler has, an Australian, an Indian, an Englishman and a New Zealander hit the deck and bowled with pace and intensity. The best batsmen in the world danced to their tunes as the balls went flying past their edges. RCB got out to a lowest total ever in 10 years of IPL. It was an incredible sight as the Kolkata Knight Riders destroy the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a seam storm.
After a late start due to a passing shower, Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bowl first. KKR got off to an explosive start as Sunil Narine again played a cameo which suprisingly was the highest score of the match. He played some glorious cover drives as even Kohli looked with awe. Tymal Mills, provided the first breakthrough as the late movement squared up Gautam Gambhir. Narine also departed as he picked up a lone fielder at square leg.
KKR were 65 for 2 at that stage and the powerplay was still not over. But the RCB spinners pulled it back. Samuel Badree came back strongly after being hit for 18 runs in his first over by Narine. He trapped Robin Uthappa right in front of the stumps. Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the most consistent performers in IPL removed the dangerous Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf gave him the charge and he fired one down the leg side and Jadhav removed the bails. Such was Chahal’s charisma that Manish Pandey hit a full toss from him straight to midwicket. Grandhomme also departed in the same over as he edged one to the slip where Kohli had positioned himself perfectly.
The tail of KKR couldn’t wag much as Tymal Mills and Pawan Negi completed the rout. KKR folded for a paltry 131 as Chahal finished with figures of 3 for 16 off 4 overs. And everybody thought that this was going to be a cakewalk for the famed Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line up.
But history is made when you do the unexpected. Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled one upto Kohli who drove away from the body and edged it to second slip. Kohli was gone for a golden duck. He wasn’t happy as the movement above the side screen broke his concentration. The next over, Umesh Yadav had Mandeep Singh caught at square on the off side. But the game really turned in the third over. Coulter-Nile bowled a short one outside the off stump at 147 kmph. A B de Villiers was a little late on the the pull and he top edged it to Uthappa behind the stumps.
The crowd at iconic Eden Gardens went nuts and the pacers presented an excellent exhibition of one hour of seam bowling attack. Coulter-Nile got his third scalp as Jadhav edged an inswinging delivery to short mid-on. Then Chris Woakes came to the party. Gayle trying to clear the infield offered a simple catch to the fielder at mid-off with the pace again doing the trick. Two balls later, Woakes bowled with a seam up and the ball moved just enough off the pitch to take the edge of Stuart Binny’s bat.
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Colin de Grandhomme also decided to wash his hands in the flowing water as he took out the 3 tail enders to ensure that RCB dont even make it to the half century. Gautam Gambhir, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders team must also be given credit for this epic win. He read the conditions well, attacked from the word go and utilised his pace ammunition effectively.
This win would have boosted the confidence of KKR and they are now well on their way to a place in the qualifier. RCB need to forget this nightmare and get their act together fast as they are now languishing at the bottom of the table.
