Royal Challengers Bangalore defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets in 39th Match of 2020 IPL. Bangalore restricted Kolkata to a IPL record low score of 84/8 in 20 overs before chasing down the target in just 13.3 overs.
Mohammed Siraj‘s career night wrecks Kolkata top order
Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat first on a tough batting pitch in Abu Dhabi. But Man of the Match winner Mohammed Siraj ended Knight Riders hope of winning the game after just bowling 2 overs of his spell. The Righty Fast bowler set new IPL record by bowling 2 maiden overs and claiming three wickets within first four overs of the game.
Siraj dismissed Tripathi (1 run) , Rana (0 run) and Banton (10 runs in 8 balls) , Saini claimed in-form Knight Rider Shubman Gill (1 run in 6 balls) to make it 4/14 in 3.3 overs. KKR Captain Morgan took the responsibility to steady the innings along with veteran wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik. The Pair added 18 runs for 5th wicket partnership before Virat Kohli pulled his trump card Chahal.
The Leg Spinner dismissed struggling Dinesh Karthik (4 runs from 14 balls) before sending Cummins (4 runs from 17) back to pavilion. Washington Sundar removes well settled batsman Morgan (30 runs 34 balls) to shut the door on Kolkata’s idea of scoring fighting total. Kuldeep (12 of 19) & Ferguson (19 not out of 16) added 27 runs for 8th wicket.
In-form youngster Padikkal (25 of 17 balls) and AJ Finch (16 of 21) started the low target chase very well by not losing any wickets early in the power play. The pair added 46 runs for opening partnership before Ferguson dismissed Finch with a beautiful delivery. Gurkeeat Singh (21 not out) and Virat Kohli (18 not out) finishes the job without losing another wicket.
With tonight’s big win, Royal Challengers Bangalore moved to second place in the table with 14 points in 10 matches played so far. KKR still holding on to the fourth place with 10 points in 10 matches.
Key-Facts of the night:
- 2 – Mohammed Siraj became the first bowler to bowl two maiden overs in an IPL match. He bowled his first two overs without conceding a run and picked up three wickets – Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, and Tom Banton – in that period.
- 4 – Four maidens were bowled by the RCB bowlers – two by Siraj and one each by Chris Morris and Washington Sundar – a first in IPL history. Not more than two maidens were bowled in the same innings before this.
- 72 – The number of dot balls played out by the KKR batsmen in this innings, which is the second-most in an IPL innings. The highest is 75 dots, also by KKR against CSK in Chennai last year. The previous most dots by a team in a game this year was also KKR – 57 dots against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.
- 84 – KKR’s total is the lowest non-all-out total for a team batting first in the IPL. The previous lowest in a full 20-over innings was the Mumbai Indians’ 94 for 8 against the Rajasthan Royals in 2011.
- 3-8 – Siraj’s figures in this innings – the most economical figures of IPL 2020 (minimum 12 balls in the spell). Incidentally, before this match, Siraj’s IPL career economy rate was 9.29, the worst among 92 bowlers who had delivered 100-plus overs.
- 2 – Runs scored by KKR’s top-three batsmen, which is the joint second-lowest for a team in the IPL. The lowest is three ducks by the Deccan Charges’ top-three against CSK in 2009.
- 4 – Wickets picked up by RCB in the first four overs of the innings. Only once before had they achieved this – against the Mumbai Indians in 2017.
Post-Match Comments :
Mohammed Siraj, Man of the Match:
“First I want to thank Allah for my performance. Then thanks to Virat for giving me the new ball. I have been practising a lot with the new ball. We hadn’t planned that I will open but when we went out, Virat bhai said Miyan ready ho jao. [Sir, get ready.]. The ball to Rana was very good. Executed exactly what I had planned.”
Virat Kohli, Captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore:
“I was thinking Washy for the new ball. It was a good toss to lose because we would have batted first. The plan was to bowl Washy and Morry, but then we thought let’s go Morris and Siraj. The management has set in a culture where there is proper planning. It is not random. We have a Plan A,we have a Plan B, we have a Plan C. We are here to execute the plans we have in place. We did a few things at the auction too, which is paying off. You can have all the plans, but you have to have belief. Morry is living the responsibility. He is the guy who likes to take the leadership role. His energy is amazing. He can contribute with the bat, ball and in the field. Last year Siraj had a tough year and a lot of people went hard at him. This year he has worked hard and was bowling well in the nets. He has seen the results now but we want him to keep following the process.”
Eoin Morgan, Captain of Kolkata Knight Riders:
“I think it started with batting. Being four or five down as early as we were is disappointing. RCB bowled well, but we should have countered that better. and with that dew, we probably should have bowled first. We have been consistent with our selections of the top three, we believe they are the ones to take us forward. They have shown potential. So it was important to back the Indian batsmen. Hopefully Russell and Narine will be fit and available around the corner. Two guys of that calibre, particularly when they are allrounders, is a big hole. Hopefully they will be available down the line.””
