IPL 2018, Match 3, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Expectations vs Reality

The third match of the tournaments is between two sides that are capable of producing some of the best contests in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They are both star-studded, the lineups consist of some exceptional upcoming talent, some of the most destructive players and have passionate, loyal fans however one supersedes the other because one, Kolkata Knight Riders are two-time champions while Royal Challengers Bangalore are still looking for the maiden title.

RCB poached several KKR players in the auction this year, particularly, the four bowlers who were chief architects in the match where RCB were all 0ut for 49 in 2017. Does that give RCB the edge? You never know. However, what you do know is that there will be exciting face-offs in the form of Bash Brothers, Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum and spin twins Kuldeep Yadav vs Yuzvendra Chahal.

KKR have the home advantage as this match is going to be played at the iconic Eden Gardens. Yet, Bangalore is high on experience in comparison to a fairly young KKR side. The young players will get used to the rigours of the league as the tournament progresses. Are your expectations on the same page as ours? Have a look:

The hype around Washington Sundar is real

It’s not like RCB have completely fixed their problems with their bowling, however, the addition of Washington Sundar in their squad is a big deal because he’s an asset for skipper Virat Kohli, in terms of bowling during powerplay as understood by his performance in the Nidahas Trophy 2018.

At Eden Gardens, containing the combined power hitting of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine will be a task for any team. However, I think the novelty factor that Sundar brings along with his stingy bowling, will be successful in containing at least one of the two. A bright future and a terrific individual season awaits him and his first game with the side will just be a glimpse of it.

Lynn-Sanity or Narine fireworks

Ideally, if both of these destructive players are on song, the bowlers can just pray for the storm to pass. However, the instinct is that only one of these players will fire tomorrow. The last time these two sides played each other, both the players scored explosive half-centuries with KKR winning by 6 wickets.

While Lynn scored 50 off 22 balls, Narine scored 54 off 17 balls making it the joint fastest fifty in IPL history, bringing it in just 15 deliveries. The duo smoked the RCB bowlers out of the part at their home ground. Before that, they treated RCB at Eden Gardens with the iconic 49-all out.

Wait for the reality check that comes up after the match…

Narine against RCB, still a better love story than twilight

He scored the second-fastest fifty against the same opposition today, all in just 15 balls. He hit the RCB bowlers to all corners of Eden Garden. Chris Lynn did not quite fire as Chris Woakes send him packing with just 5 runs to his name. Narine was rightly named the man of the match. However, it will raise questions about RCB’s approach. Could they have won the match if the Narine fireworks were contained? Why was spin bowled to Narine in the first few overs anyway? Why are there no plans to dismiss him when other teams have clearly found a chink in his armour?

Sundar had a forgettable debut

What was expected to be a terrific debut ended up being a rather forgettable one. The reality hit us and Sundar when he was tonked for 48 runs in 4 overs. Neither did he come good in the powerplay nor in the middle overs. However, it is first game for the side and things can get better for him in the future but his fielding was pretty forgettable too.

Interestingly, the highlight for RCB with the ball was Umesh Yadav. Steaming in, taking the big wickets of Narine and Uthappa and keeping the economy below 6.75 will be a positive RCB will like to take. Whether it was the experience of bowling at Eden Garden, the familiarity factor with the KKR batsmen or just pure motivation, we will never know.

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