IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders complete double over Royal Challengers Bangalore, win thriller by 21 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders completed their double against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, 26 April.

Nitish Rana’s team put in a stunning comeback performance in the second innings of the match to defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs in their own backyard.

KKR vs RCB: Highlights
RCB were themselves to blame for the loss, failing to put away bad balls and imploding in the middle order via some poor running in the 22 yards. KKR spinners, Suyash Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy dominated the RCB batters on the day, picking up a crucial win for KKR after four losses on a trot. The win helped KKR reach 6 points, and join the mid-section logjam that the IPL points table is turning out to be.

The win should do the KKR dugout a world of good, considering that their captain Nitish Rana had visibly been left frustrated after the team’s last two losses. Rana had voiced his disappointment in the bowling unit and said that the side needed to do much better.

In a game of swinging momentum, the KKR bowling unit turned up after an initial hammering from Faf du Plessis (17 off 7) and Virat Kohli (54 off 37), and eked the life out of Royal Challengers Bangalore innings. Suyash (2/30) and Chakravarthy (3/27) were undoubtedly the stars of the show, which helped the side defend 201 runs in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Earlier in the innings Kolkata Knight Riders had started off brightly in the powerplay, thanks to some incredible intent from England batter Jason Roy. With Nayaran Jagadeesan struggling on a flat Chinnaswamy track, Roy kept his cool and put away the bad balls inside the powerplay overs.

Roy’s frustration was only visible in the 10th over of the match, when he was bowled around the legs by Vijay Kumar Vyshak. With Roy gone, the KKR batting unit struggled in the middle overs of the match, failing to attack at a venue that is known to be high scoring in nature.

The team was able to up the impetus after the arrival of captain Nitish Rana, who began the counter-attack late in the innings. Rana’s 48 off 21 gave KKR a little bit of air to breathe and allowed Rinku Singh and David Wiese to cut loose in the final two overs of the game. At the time, RCB were looking to restrict the Kolkata side below 190 runs, but an expensive final two overs changed the game. Rinku Singh and Wiese were able to take away 30 runs in the final two overs, which took KKR to a below-par but respectable score.

Royal Challengers Bangalore fielders were to be blamed for allowing KKR to cut loose, failing to grab onto other chances. In certain instances, they even failed to make the ground and reach the ball as well. This came in sharp contrast to the way Kolkata fielded on the day, picking up three brilliant chances at the edge of the boundary.

RCB captain for the day, Virat Kohli, was left seething after the match and said that this was a freebie to the Kolkata side, who were handed the win on the day.

With the win, KKR are now placed in 7th position, bettering their Net Run Rate, while RCB stand in the 5th position in the league table.