JOIN USNo end to Challengers' misery
As if one pinch hitter wasn’t enough, Kolkata Knight Riders unleashed two against Royal Challengers Bangalore and the result was a total devastation.
It was an absolute massacre here at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on a packed Sunday as Sunil Narine (54, 17b, 6x4, 4x6) and Chris Lynn (50, 22b, 5x4, 4x6) punished the RCB attack mercilessly to fashion KKR’s six-wicket win and more or less seal their place in the play-offs. Chasing RCB’s 158/6, which was built mainly on the back of gutsy efforts from Travis Head (75, 47b, 3x4, 5x6) and Mandeep Singh (52, 43b, 4x4, 1x6), KKR made a mockery of the target to reply with 159/4 in 15.1 overs.
In the process, quite a few batting records tumbled by the wayside. Narine equalled the fastest fifty off 15 balls by Yusuf Pathan (against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014) in the Indian Premier League while KKR’s 100 (105 in fact) off 36 balls was the joint-fastest in the history of the league. The 105 runs KKR scored is the highest in Power Play. Narine’s partner Lynn, who was playing his first match after returning from the shoulder injury, seemed a bit sober in comparison as he took 21 balls to reach his half-century!
After collecting 14, 6 and 14 runs of the first three overs of the chase, Narine took 22 off the fourth over (total 25 off the over) by Samuel Badree, including three consecutive sixes. Next over by S Arvind leaked 26 while Yuzvendra Chahal went for 20 to leave the hosts in a daze.
The opening duo was dismissed in the space of eight balls and two runs, but by then only formalities were left to be completed by KKR who ended their two-match losing streak and returned to second position on the points table.
A familiar saga unfolded after the visitors inserted the hosts first. The Big Three who all walked into bat to roaring reception went without a whimper. Chris Gayle, who these days can’t even as much buy a run, was out for a golden duck to become Umesh Yadav’s first of three victims on the day. Virat Kohli failed to read a slower one from Umesh and was plumb in front. The last of the trio, AB de Villiers, didn’t either deviate from the beaten path. After sending Narine for a four with an uppish drive, the South African was bowled round his legs off the next ball.
Just 4.4 overs into the innings, RCB had lost their cream once again leaving the lesser acclaimed batsmen to do the bulk of the work. Having squandered his chances for better part of the season, Mandeep seems to have found a way to score runs. After a 40-ball-46 against Kings XI Punjab, the right-hander brought up his first fifty of this IPL with the help of some attractive strokes. After being reduced to 34/3, the youngster reconstructed the innings with no little help from Head. The duo added 71 off 63 balls to take RCB past the 100-run mark during a partnership that saw a 38-minute rain interruption.
Mandeep was out soon after reaching his half-century but Head remained firm even though he found it hard to force the pace. The southpaw struggled to manufacture big shots against some disciplined pace bowling by KKR. Head, however, found his range against Umesh to cart him for two sixes and a four to plunder 21 runs in the final over. A total in excess of 150 would have appeared satisfying for RCB after another horrific start but Narine-Lynn assault reduced it to an inadequate target.