IPL 2021: Match 10 - RCB vs KKR - Who Said What

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have continued their merry run in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 38 runs in Chennai in a high-scoring encounter. Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers were the heroes for the Men in Red as the duo decimated the opposition with their exceptional batting.

After opting to bat first, RCB were struggling at 9/2 after two overs. But then Glenn Maxwell came out and launched a calculated assault on the KKR bowlers. He scored 78 runs off just 49 balls and it was his batting that laid the platform for AB de Villiers to come and bat freely. The former South African cricketer slammed an unbeaten 76 off just 34 balls to propel RCB to 204/4 after 20 overs.

In response, KKR were always behind the eight ball as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Andre Russell slammed quick runs at the back end of the innings to give them some hope. But even then RCB’s good death bowling didn’t allow KKR to chase down the total. Eoin Morgan and his men could only reach 166 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.

For RCB, Harshal Patel was one of the best bowlers picking up 2/17 while Yuzvendra Chahal also returning with two strikes. Kyle Jamieson was expensive but he picked up three wickets to prove his mettle.

Man of the Match AB de Villiers said:

I did play well and had a lot of fun. Maxi made it easier and it’s difficult coming into a game on a pitch that has been slower. It was a bit of both. It wasn’t a 200-wicket; maybe 170 was about par today. The most important thing is I’m enjoying myself and my cricket – my family is here.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli said:

Especially Siraj’s over to Russell [was good] – he has had some history against Russell. He’s a different bowler after the Australia tour and he shut the game out.

Harshal has so much clarity in the end and I think Jamieson also bowled well. That’s the reason why we have three out of three. To be fair, on a pitch like Chennai, you probably have a bit more space to make an error on the longer boundary. It has to be on the off side and not on side.

Siraj did miss on the full-toss, but he has two men on the boundary. The execution was spot-on. We played in Wankhede, Kolkata and Ahmedabad where the margin of error keeps getting smaller.

Well, I said at the halfway mark we have 200 because of two genius innings back-to-back. Maxwell was outstanding and AB to follow. When he gets in with that kind of form and flow, it’s impossible to stop him.

We got 40 extra runs on that pitch which slowed down. Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today. There are areas we can work on. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves and not getting over-excited.

KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said:

Certainly RCB’s day with the bat on a rocket-hot afternoon game. It [The Chennai pitch] certainly has stumped me, and I can’t gauge the wicket. Everyone who batted on this wicket felt it played better but RCB played better.

Probably not to be honest [should you have given Varun another over in the powerplay?] Maxwell is a fine player, but to bowl to AB you need to have that [option]. Yeah, yeah, we struggled to kick on and got us into a position where only Andre could do it. Different wicket [in Mumbai], dew, and we have been watching those games