RCB vs KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

KKR VS RCB 2023  (IMAGE SOURCE : IPL/BCCI)

IPL 2023 : Venkatesh Iyer Snaps Kohli, DK Fails to Finish as KKR Beat RCB

Jason Roy Breaks Free From The Trap

The trap was laid. Knowing Jason Roy's tendency to drive through the air on the off side, Mohammed Siraj kept it short mid-off. Roy knew what the next ball would be like. Siraj lofts the ball on a good length outside off stump and lofts it towards Roy. England openers will take up the challenge. A vigorous forward stride, crisp bat-swing and he crunched the ball with barely two meters between bowler and fielder. The latter anticipated the shot and reacted with a sideways lunge, but the ball was so sweet that it went past him. Siraj looked disappointedly at the fielder, who averted his gaze and gestured with his hands that the ball was far away from him. The cleverest fool can appear in a trap as Roy is.

Graceful Jason, Muscling Roy

In two balls, Jason Roy showed two sides of his batting. Courteous face first, when he lofted Shahbaz Ahmed down the track and turned him over mid-on for a six. There was barely any muscle-flex in the stroke, as the left-arm spinner looked genuinely unfazed by the ease of the stroke. Next ball, he saw the powerful side of Roy as he slammed him with plenty of body in a good old fashioned stroke, over deep mid-wicket. Ahmed was looking grumpy. By the end of the over, he looked resigned as Roy picked him off for two more sixes (first a pull and then a slog).

Harshal Patel Bowling

Harshal Patel angrily hit the turf. He had just dropped a straight catch off Nitish Rana, the second time he was dropped in the night. Just as Mohammed Siraj was reintroduced into the attack after Rana was dropped, Patel was commissioned to bowl the next over as punishment for dropping a catch. It turned out to be a punishment for Patel, as Rana hit him for a pair of sixes. Typical Rana sixes were those - get inside the line of the ball, then either pull, as he did in the first innings when the slower ball was short, or whip-flick the ball if it strayed down the ground. After being relieved on scores of 6 and 19, Rana scored 48 off 21 balls. Patel again hit the ground after two sixes.

Siraj is Shouting

Before the game, RCB coach Sanjay Bangar had said that he has a bowling plan against Andre Russell, which he has used consistently in the past. Mohammed Siraj came up with an inch-perfect yorker to get the big man down. Russell was specifically set inside the crease for the yorker but Siraj's missile was sharp, accurate, really loaded and squeezed under the bat to crash into the bottom of leg stump. And boy did he enjoy Siraj, who conceded 15 runs in that 19th over. he shouted, nerves coming out, and even Russell, who was on his hip, looked at Siraj.

Toss Away

Whether it is because of LBW threats or because he wants to stay away from the ball, creating his width, Virat Kohli has been standing well away from the leg stump in his stance. And when Umesh Yadav got a length delivery shaped away from the off-stump - in other words a beautiful outswinger - Kohli reached out, and blazed supremely up and over extra cover with a fluid bat swing. Then came down the track to slice a fullish ball at off stump. That outside-foot stance is allowing him to build on his width.

Venkatesh Iyer Pouches Kohli

Kohli lofted Andre Russell towards long-on but didn't go for the height and distance, nor lofted it down the ground. Nevertheless, the ball was quickly dipping near the boundary when Venkatesh Iyer smartly moved to his left, getting down to pat it with both hands. And his expression said that he thought the game was over. and it was.

DK 2022 > DK 2023

Dinesh Karthik, who had a stellar IPL season to break into the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, has had a stellar season this year. It was a game that demanded last year's DK; Instead it turned out to be this year's edition. He had just caught Andre Russell at backward square-leg to revive hope for RCB, but he fell in the very next over. It was a long jump from Varun Chakravarthy, a rare poor ball from the tweaker that day, but DK's pull was weak, and found the deep midwicket fielder. In the previous game too, he found the fielder with another powerful pull. If RCB and DK are unable to finish these matches, then the pressure on the top order increases even more.