IPL 10: Match 27, Who Said What: Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Kolkata Knight Riders hosted a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in Eden Gardens at Kolkata. The match started off with a slight delay due to rain. The match saw one of the greatest collapses in the history of the tournament as RCB were bundled out within 10 overs and registering the lowest total in IPL.

The match was lit up yet again by Sunil Narine opening blitzkrieg. From 48 without no wickets, the KKR were reduced to 93/6. KKR could only manage a paltry total of 131, after a brilliant performance with the ball by the RCB side. All the bowlers chipped in with essential wickets at regular interval of time.

Chahal grabbed three wickets at an economy of just 4 runs. Tymal Mills and Pawan Negi picked a couple each while Samuel Badree, Stuart Binny, and Sreenath Aravind picked up a wicket each. One would have thought RCB held the upper hand but little did they know what was about to come their way.

None of the batsmen in the Bangalore ranks could manage a score in the double digits, three of them could not even open their accounts. Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, and Nathan Coulter-Nile cashed in with three wickets each at unbelievable economies.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the end, were bundled out for just 49 which is the lowest total in the history of IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by a massive margin of 82 runs which definitely would reflect in their net run rate. Coulter-Nile was adjudged as the man of the match for his fierce-some opening spell.

Nathan Coulter-Nile

The Australian highlighted the fact that one has to come out all guns blazing while trying to defend a small total. Citing examples from the big bash leagues, he went on to state that he was accustomed to such situations while playing for the Perth Scorcher.

Coulter-Nile admitted about his overstepping problem recently. While appreciating the supports from the Kolkata fans, he stated that he got goosebumps after listening to the crowd at times.

You have to come out steaming when you’re defending 130. I’ve played for the Scorchers before and we’ve defended similar scores. I just had a feeling that we’ll be able to defend this. I’ve had a bit of a problem with the no-balls recently. I was so pumped up, I wasn’t thinking about it. We’ve got some world-class spinners who didn’t even get a bowl today. The pitch suited us. When you start getting on a role, it’s tough to wrestle the momentum. So we just kept going and kept going. Got goosebumps a little bit, it was that loud (the crowd). To wrestle back the winning momentum after the last game is a big thing.

Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir termed the performance of the team as professional. He praised the KKR bowling attack. However, admitted that the batting unit has to take up a lot more responsibility as they cant afford to collapse like they did in the match and expect to win the tournament. Gambhir took heart from the fact the team managed to win even after batting first and not just chasing totals.

Very professional. A lot of credit needs to go to the bowling attack. Not a lot of teams have the kind of pace that we have. We just want them to hit the deck and bowl quick and that’s what they did. We didn’t bat well at all. We should have got 160-170. If you’re looking to win the tournament, you can’t bat like that. We thought that there was something in there for the fast bowlers. Lot of credit needs to go to the bowling department. I’ve not seen a more impressive bowling attack. That was the message. Try to express yourself with the pace you’ve got. Lot of oppositions think we are a chasing side. So if you win batting first, it gives you a lot of confidence.

Virat Kohli

An emotional Kohli expressed his shock and termed their batting performance as the ‘worst’ in the history of the IPL. He also labelled their batting performance with adjectives such as disgraceful and unacceptable.

Probably our worst batting performance, the worst of the IPL as well. Very hurtful for me to stand here and talk. I thought we could capitalize and cash in during the chase. I can’t say anything now, but our performance was unacceptable. Disgraceful batting, reckless from us, one of the worst collapses ever. The sight screen was slightly short here, that led to my lapse in concentration, but I was the first to get out, there were nine others in the hut. It was a shocking batting performance. We just didn’t turn up with the bat.

He further augmented the fact that was nothing to take back from their performance tonight except for the bowlers. He commended the efforts of the bowler especially after the start they received.

There’s nothing to review, need to forget and move on. Positives, the first half, nothing to talk about in the second innings (laughs). We are a better batting unit than this, we scored 200+ in the last game, but this was shocking for everyone. They know what went wrong, they will come out and do a lot better, I am sure we will not bat like this in the next few games. Restricting them to 130+ in their home turf was a good effort, especially after the start they had.

Kohli was relieved that the team goes back to play few home games, as they have been visiting other teams for quite a while.

We are going back home for the next two games. We are on the road from now on with very few breaks in between. Need to put in a better performance, try to build some momentum before going away from home.

Kolkata Knight Riders remain in the second position with 10 points in their bag. RCB are second last in the table with just four points in seven games and an appalling net run rate.