Before Kolkata Knight Riders took on Royal Challengers Bangalore, Eden Gardens witnessed a brief spell of rain. There was no lighting or thunderstorm that would result in a washout of the game. However, for Bangalore — given what eventually happened — a washout would have been an ideal result on Sunday night.
All-important toss
Virat Kohli won the crucial toss and elected to bowl first against Gautam Gambhir’s side. Chasing is ‘apparently’ Bangalore’s strength and Kohli was sticking to it. It is a pattern most teams are abiding by in the Indian Premier League. His bowlers did a brilliant job of restricting Kolkata to 131 runs after they were cruising at 52/1 owing to the heroics of Sunil Narine, who hit 34 of 17 balls. Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for Bangalore taking 3/16 followed by Pawan Negi and Tymal Mills picking two wickets apiece. Samuel Badree, Stuart Binny and Sreenath Aravind taking a wicket each.
What just happened
When you need 132 runs to win in 120 balls and have Chris Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villiers as three of your top-four batsmen, you know that the match is in the bag and it is only a matter of getting the job done. However, what transpired at Eden Gardens was nothing short of a nightmare for Bangalore. They were bowled out 49 runs. Yes, 49 runs. The lowest total in IPL history. Kolkata won by 82 runs, which saw them cement the second spot on the table with 10 points.
For Kohli, this defeat will sting. Rather for the trio, who were compared to Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, Barcelona’s potent attack, the loss will hopefully be a rude awakening call hopefully. Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers, given the reputation they have, they should have taken their side home in a canter. They aren’t out of form. Kohli has two half-centuries to his name in the IPL already. He smashed 64 in their last game against Gujarat. In the same game, Gayle smashed a swashbuckling 77. De Villiers in his first game for RCB smashed an unbelievable 89 not out against Punjab. Hence, the probability of all failing in the same game is very low. But, it happened and it was shocking.
A collapse to forget
RCB’s collapse was triggered by Kohli’s dismissal. While it does not justify his team’s capitulation, but the manner in which the wicket fell and his immediate reaction where in Kohli spent more time complaining about the side screen while sitting in the dugout instead of getting his team to focus on the chase was little off putting. His body language did not instill confidence and led to panic within the ranks as the big guns failed to fire one after the other.
They have one of the most dangerous batting lineups in the league and if you do not get 132 runs in 20 overs, you have a serious problem. None of the batsmen reached double digits with Kedar Jadhav being the top scorer for RCB with nine runs.
“Our worst batting performance, it really hurts,” said Kohli after the match. “After the kind of half that we had, we thought we could capitalise and chase it down. Reckless batting. I can’t say anything at the moment. It was that bad. This is just not acceptable. Nine guys could have done the job.”
“We’re a much better team. We got 200-plus in the last game. I’m sure everyone realises what they’ve done wrong. You have to come out, show intent and back yourselves. I’m sure we won’t bat like that again in the tournament,” Kohli added.
Credit to KKR’s bowlers
However, credit has to be given to the KKR bowlers. The conditions were favourable for the pacers. The rain and the overcast conditions meant there was enough nip in the air to assist the fast bowlers and skipper Gambhir did well to back his pacers. Despite the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine at his disposal, he did not once give the ball to a spinner at all. Instead, he put attacking fields and backed his fiery pace attack to get the job done.
For Gambhir, victory couldn’t have been sweeter. “Not a lot of teams have pace like we have. Got three guys who can bowl over 140. The plan was to hit the deck hard and the plan worked. It was moving around, so I thought there was no point in using spin. The bowling department was very professional, I’ve not seen as impressive an effort from the bowling attack like I did today. The plan to the bowlers was simple ‘ just use your pace and show to the world what you’ve got.’ A lot of opponents think we’re a chasing side. So if we win batting first, it gives us a lot of confidence,” said Gambhir.
For Kolkata, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme grabbed three wickets each. Umesh Yadav also chipped in with a wicket.
RCB are all but out
Sunday’s defeat will have punctured the aura the Bangalore batting order inspired among their rivals. With the team already at the bottom of the table, this latest setback could prove a death knell to their playoff aspirations. For Kohli, who has had a splendid Test season and has won almost all the trophies on offer, an IPL trophy now seems to be a distant dream.