Abu Dhabi : The return leg fixture between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was hosted at Sheikh Zayed Stadium at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, October 21.
KKR captain, Eoin Morgan (30), won the toss and elected to bat first and faced a hostile spell of fast bowling from Mohammed Siraj (3/8).
The Hyderabad pacer scalped three crucial wickets within the powerplay and bowled two consecutive maiden overs. Thereby, becoming the only bowler to achieve the feat in IPL cricket.
The entire KKR batting unit fell like a pack of cards as RCB ran riot by picking up eight wickets in 20 overs. Morgan’s men could only put up 84 runs during their batting efforts.
Siraj was well supported by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/15) at the other end. The wily leg-spinner scalped a couple of wickets and only conceded 15 runs in his four overs.
Washington Sundar (1/14) and Navdeep Saini (1/23) shared a wicket each during their miserly spell. Only four KKR batsmen managed to reach a double-digit score with number nine batsman Lockie Ferguson (19) ending up as the second-highest scorer for his side after Morgan.
Chasing a paltry target of 85 runs, openers Aaron Finch (16) and Devdutt Padikkal (25) ensured that there were no hiccups during the powerplay phase. They scored 44 runs without losing their wicket to lay a solid foundation for RCB’s chase.
However, it all changed with the introduction of Ferguson in the seventh over. The Kiwi pacer sent Finch back in the dugout. Padikkal soon followed his opening partner after getting involved in a misunderstanding in the middle with Gurkeerat Mann.
Subsequently, Mann (21) and Kohli (18) professionally completed the formalities with their unbeaten knocks. The duo helped RCB win the game with seven and a half overs to spare.
Siraj was adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his unplayable spell of bowling. With the thumping win, RCB leapfrogged onto the second place in the points table accumulating 14 points in 10 games.
Brief Scores: RCB 85/2 in 13.3 overs (Padikkal 25, Ferguson 1/17) beat KKR 84/8 in 20 overs (Morgan 30, Siraj 3/8) by 8 wickets.
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