IPL 10, Match 46, RCB v KKR - Kolkata Knight Riders Player Ratings

The Kolkata Knight Riders found themselves in an awkward place coming in to their clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru. They were the first team to race to the 14 points mark and were a win away from qualifications. However, two defeats in their last two games set them on the backfoot altogether again. The hiccup was not the best thing they hoped for in their quest to make it to the playoffs.

Having said that, KKR knew they had their best chance of getting the win against the RCB camp. RCB were a side that was low on confidence. With 10 defeats to their name this season, they had a dismal time in all the departments in the match. On the other hand, RCB had nothing but pride to play for and hence could have been a stiff opposition. But luck does not seem to be on their way at all.

In the match, RCB were asked to bat first after Gautam Gambhir won the toss for KKR. They were jolted early on in the innings by twin strikes from Umesh Yadav that saw Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle head back to the pavilion. Fifties from Mandeep Singh and Travis Head helped RCB post 158 on the board in their fifty overs. Kolkata Knight Riders took on the attack with Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn adding 105 runs in the powerplay.

It was only formality from their on as quick fifties from Narine and Lynn helped KKR register another win this season. Here are the Kolkata Knight Riders Player Ratings for the RCB v KKR encounter:

Sunil Narine – 10/10

Sunil Narine was indeed the star of the show. The kind of performances that he came up on the day with both bat and the ball was absolutely phenomenal. Narine came in to open the innings with Chris Lynn. The two batsmen added 105 off just 37 balls for the first wicket. Narine was on fire as he played a scintillating knock on the day.

He plundered a quickfire 54 off just 17 balls with 4 sixes and 6 boundaries to his name. In the process, he hit the fastest fifty in the history of the tournament and equaled Yusuf Pathan’s feat of hitting the fifty in 15 balls. Earlier in the game, he was good with the ball as he scalped two key wickets. Narine returned with figures of 2/29 on the day.

Chris Lynn – 9.5/10

Chris Lynn made a comeback in the game and announced himself in grand style. It seems that Lynn has made it a habit of making his match of the season after a comeback as a masterly one. Earlier in the season, he had hit a blitzkrieg 93 against the Gujarat Lions.

Today, he hit a magnificent 50 off just 22 balls. His knock was studded with 5 fours and 6 fours on the day. With a strike rate close to 230, Lynn showed why he is one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball at the moment. Lynn’s heroics helped Kolkata Knight Riders breach the 100-run mark in the powerplay.

Colin de Grandhomme – 7/10

The Kiwi all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme was promoted ahead of Gautam Gambhir in the batting lineup in the run chase. Grandhomme was not at his fluent best but surely did perform decently. He did not match the power hitting ability of Chris Lynn and Narine but ensured that the team tickled past the target.

Colin de Grandhomme scored 31 off 28 balls in the match with 2 sixes and a four to his name. Earlier in the game, he was given his opportunity with the ball too. However, he could not do much there. He went wicketless in the 2 overs that he bowled and gave 15 runs.

Gautam Gambhir – 3/10

Gautam Gambhir played a master stroke by letting Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine open the innings. Gambhir came into bat at number 4 in the runchase but failed to make it count on the day. He scored 14 runs off 16 balls without a boundary shot to his name. He was dismissed in the 15th over with the team still needing 7 runs to win.

Manish Pandey – 4/10

The services of Manish Pandey were not largely needed on the day. He came into bat with the team needing only 7 runs to win. Pandey remained unbeaten on 4 in 3 deliveries and hit the winning runs on the day. Pandey and Yusuf Pathan finsihed things up for KKR on the day.

Yusuf Pathan – 4/10

Yusuf Pathan did not have too much to do on the day. He came into bat after Gautam Gambhir fell to the bowling of Chahal towards the end of the run chase. KKR needed only 3 runs when he walked into bat. He played down 5 balls but did not open his account on the day. He remained unbeaten on zero as the team eased past the target in 15.1 overs.

Sheldon Jackson – 2/10

Sheldon Jackson retained his place in the side as Robin Uthappa failed to recover from the injury that he picked up prior to the commencement of the previous game. He kept wickets for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the match. He did not have much to do and did a decent job with the gloves.

Later in the game, Sheldon Jackson did not get his chance with the bat and that summed up the match for them. The KKR top order were enough to overhual the RCB target.

Chris Woakes – 4/10

Well, it was high time for Chris Woakes to fire in the game. Woakes has been very expensive in the tournament thus far and things did not change much in this game either. Woakes was taken away for a plenty of runs in the match. He was the least economical bowler on the day. In the four overs that he bowled on the day, he gave away 39 runs. Much to his relief, he managed to take one wicket on the day. He dismissed Kedar Jadhav on 8.

Piyush Chawla – 5/10

Piyush Chawla did not have too much to do in the game. He walked into the side at the expense of Kuldeep Yadav in the match. Considering the good record that the leg spinners had at the venue, the Kolkata Knight Riders hoped for Chawla to do well in the game.

But much to his disappointment, he was not given too many overs to try his time with the ball. He bowled only two overs on the day and gave away 13 runs. He had nothing to show in the wickets column in the match.

Ankit Rajpoot – 7/10

Ankit Rajpoot was not among the wickets on the day. He came into the side for this particular. He bowled his complete quota of four overs and kept things tight in the middle overs. He gave only 25 runs in his four overs and ensured that the runs did not leak out freely. He created the pressure on the RCB batting. Some tight bowling from him in the middle overs set things up for the other bowlers.

Umesh Yadav – 8.5/10

It was perhaps the start from Umesh Yadav that set things up for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the game. He got the big fish Chris Gayle on the very first ball of the match. He sent him packing for a golden duck to bring Virat Kohli to the crease. In his next over, he managed to trap Kohli lbw on just 5 to set things right for the team in the powerplay.

The twin strike dented RCB big time. Later in the game, he bowled well at the death overs and managed to take another wicket – that of Pawan Negi to send him back to the hut on 5. He finished as the pick of the bowlers for KKR with 3/36 to his name in the four overs.