Kolkata : Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made short work of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star-studded batting lineup to and script a remarkable 82-run win in a high-voltage Indian Premier League (IPL) game here at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Chasing the KKR’s low 131, the visitors were bundled out for 49, the lowest total in the Indian Premier League. The previous being was 58 by Rajasthan Royals against RCB in 2009.
Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/21), Chris Woakes (3/6) and Colin de Grandhomme (3/4) starred with the ball for the hosts as they skittled out their rivals for their lowest score ever.
Coulter-Nile set the tone for the hosts, removing RCB skipper Virat Kohli for a golden duck as he chased a fullish delivery outside off stump to give a simple catch to keeper Robin Uthappa. Sections of the Eden were stunned to silence as home team supporters brought the house down.
The Indian captain seemed unhappy with the movement behind the sidescreen, fuming on his way back.
Umesh Yadav got Mandeep Singh’s (1) back with the latter cutting straight to Manish Pandey at point, but it was Coulter-Nile who bowled a fiery first spell (3-0-21-3) sending the dangerous A.B. de Villiers (8) back in the hut after the South African hit two boundaries.
Kedar Jadhav (9) too failed to negotiate the Australian as the 2016 runners-up were tottering at 4/24.
Chris Gayle (7; 17b 1×4 0x6), who was the last hope for Kohli’s men, cut a frustrated figure trying to pull Woakes over midwicket but giving Couler-Nile an easy catch at mid off.
Stuart Binny (8) and Pawan Negi (2) fell shortly as the two-time champions completed a remarkable comeback. Samuel Badree, Tymal Mills, and Yuzvendra Chahal were out soon after. Sreenath Aravind was not out on 5.
Earlier, an excellent spell by leg-spinner Chahal helped RCB bundle out KKR for 131.
He returned figures of 3/16 while the other RCB bowlers also did well to restrict the hosts to the low total.
Mills — playing in place of Andre Milne — scalped 2/31 while Negi took two wickets conceding just 15 runs in three overs.
Playing in front of a packed stadium, Chahal — who in February returned best figures by an Indian in Twenty20 cricket with 6/25 against England — used the flat deck to his advantage, bowling with variations that flummoxed the home team batsmen.
Sunil Narine (34; 17b 6×4 1×6) was the top-scorer for KKR with the off-spinner continuing from where he had left off in the last match, spanking Badree for three consecutive fours and a six in the first over of the game.
The southpaw, who was catapulted up the order after Chris Lynn got injured, hit Aravind for two back-to-back fours to get the crowd, mostly cheering for the away side, going.
At the other end, Gautam Gambhir (14, 11b, 1×4, 1×6) stay at the crease was cut short by the returning Mills who caught the in-form left-hander’s outside edge for a caught behind which was initially debated, but replays showed clear nick.
Narine’s cameo — his third this season — ended when the Trinidadian holed out to Chahal at deep square leg.
Narine and Gambhir stitched together a 48-run opening partnership.
Robin Uthappa (11; 9b 2×4 0x6) did not last long, playing across the line to a fuller Badree delivery to be adjudged LBW by umpire C.K. Nandan. The hosts stared down the barrel from then on losing the next three three wickets for 27 runs.
Yusuf Pathan (8), Pandey (15) and Colin de Grandhomme (0) were removed by Chahal as KKR were left reeling at 93/6.
Woakes (18; 21b 3×4 0x6) and Suryakumar Yadav hung around for sometime for a 27-run seventh wicket stand before Mills got rid of Woakes and Coulter-Nile (2) followed suit without troubling the scorers much.
Suryakumar (15; 19b 1×4 0x6) fell to Negi while Kuldeep Yadav was taken by Aravind. Umesh Yadav remained not out for 2.
KKR’s Gambhir gung-ho about team’s bowlers
All keyed up after an emphatic 82-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL game on Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir was all praise for his bowlers who shot out the star-studded visiting batting line up for a mere 49, the lowest in the tournament history.
“The bowling department was very professional, I’ve not seen as impressive an effort from the bowling attack like I did today,” said Gambhir.
He said after his team were all out for 131, the pacers were asked to go flat out.
“The plan to the bowlers was simple ‘ just use your pace and show to the world what you’ve got'”, he said.
Gambhir added that having three fast bowlers helped.
“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,” he said.
However, Gambhir also cautioned the batsmen, saying they needed to pull up their socks.
“We didn’t bat well at all. After where we were in the first six, we should’ve got 170. We need to pull up our socks in the batting department. If you want to win the tournament, you need to bring your A game out in all departments,” he added.
Kohli pulls up RCB batsmen for reckless show
A dejected Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday admonished his batsmen after collapsing to a 82-run defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders here, saying such performance from the famed batting line up was “unacceptable”.
Calling it the RCB’s “worst batting performance”, Kohli said that “it really hurts”.
The visitors were bundled out for 49, the lowest total in the Indian Premier League after the KKR, put in to bat first by Kohli, were all out for 131.
“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,” said a visibly annoyed Kohli, who himself scored a golden duck.
The India captain, however, claimed he was distracted by a spectator.
“The sightscreen is very small here, one guy got up as the bowler was loading up, that distracted me. Still it wasn’t a big deal. That was just one down,” he said.
Kohli said the team needed to move on, leaving behind the poor show.
“We need to forget it and move forward. 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.
“We’re going back home for a couple of games. We’ve got back-to-back games, need to try and win those to get some momentum,” he said.
