IPL 10, Match 27, Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers: 5 Tracking Points

KKR's 4-man pace attack was clinical to give the home side an 82-run win against a dangerous RCB.

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Chris Woakes
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Chris Woakes. (Photo Source: BCCI)

Kolkata Knight Riders handed a shocking 82-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens. It was fast bowling at its best as Coulter-Nile, Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes and Grandhomme wreak havoc to RCB’s relatively easy chase of 132. All four fast bowlers bowled Test match lines and backed Gambhir’s decision to set attacking fields.

RCB were bundled out for 49, which is the lowest ever total in the history of IPL. Not a single batsman could reach double figures as the star-studded batting line-up failed to get going against a spirited bowling performance.

KKR, who have won most games chasing, shed the ‘chasing-team’ tag away by virtue of a big win defending a target, which took them to the second spot in the points table. Gambhir was astute in his leadership and brought in the right bowling changes to finish the innings inside 60 balls.We bring you to the 5 Tracking Points which were instrumental in shaping KKR’s win:

We bring you to the 5 Tracking Points which were instrumental in shaping KKR’s win:

1. Sunil Narine fires again

While Sunil Narine is having a quiet tournament with the ball, he is enjoying his new role of an opener. Narine has been given a license by the KKR think-tank to go after the bowling without worrying about getting out. He starts swinging from ball one and today, he destroyed his West Indies teammate Samuel Badree. Narine smashed 3 boundaries and a six off Badree to take 18 runs in the first over of the innings. His knock of 34 was instrumental in giving the KKR the right start after being put in to bat first by Kohli.

2. Chahal and Negi spin a web around KKR

KKR were going great guns till Chahal was introduced into the attack. The leg-spinner put the brakes on the run-rate by some crafty bowling. In the first over, Chahal tucked up both Pathan and Pandey as the duo were looking to get a move on. He dismissed Pathan by some smart piece of bowling and then followed it up by picking two more wickets in his third over (Pandey and Grandhomme) to reduce KKR to 93/6.

Negi too followed suit as he sent Coulter-Nile and Suryakumar Yadav back off consecutive deliveries. Both spinners strangled the batsmen in the middle overs with their guile which meant that RCB weren’t chasing much.

3. Coulter-Nile rocks RCB early

Nathan Coulter-Nile didn’t have the best of starts as he over-stepped on the first ball of the innings, though it didn’t cause too much damage as Gayle missed the free hit. Gambhir needed quick wickets and Coulter-Nile provided that when he sent Kohli back for a first-ball duck. He struck again, this time with the wicket of de Villiers.

RCB take a lot of pride in having Kohli and de Villiers in their ranks and Coulter-Nile sent both back early within the first 9 balls he bowled to leave RCB reeling. Jadhav, too, fell prey to Coulter-Nile’s swing bowling and RCB were rocked early in their chase of a modest 132. The Australian was awarded the Man of the Match award for his match-winning spell of 3/21.

4. Umesh Yadav supports Coulter-Nile

Yadav shared the new ball with Coulter-Nile. KKR needed to fire from both ends to stay alive in the game and Yadav did just that. Mandeep Singh, who came into this game with 2 consecutive ducks, fell to Umesh Yadav as he cut one straight into the hands of Manish Pandey at point. RCB were off to the worst possible start and suddenly 132 seemed miles away. Umesh bowled with pace and supported Coulter-Nile extremely well in a spell of 1/15 in 3 overs.

5. Chris Woakes and Grandhomme join the party

The other two overseas fast bowlers ensured that the pressure was on RCB. Both bowled extremely well and extracted movement in the air as well as off the wicket to run through RCB’s middle order. At 39/4, RCB’s hopes were pinned on Chris Gayle who was still not out at the crease. Woakes removed him in his first over itself as the big man from Jamaica decided to target the Englishman.

He struck again in his first over in the form of Binny’s wicket, to a peach of a delivery. Grandhomme too got off the mark in his first over as he trapped Negi in front. He then finished RCB’s innings with his twin strikes in only his second over. Woakes and Grandhomme made sure that RCB never clawed back in the game and ended the game with figures of 3/6 and 3/4 respectively.    

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