Pace bowling sensation Mayank Yadav derailed Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) run chase but it was left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth who turned the tide with in-form Virat Kohli’s wicket. At Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB openers were going all guns blazing in the powerplay overs before Siddharth got Kohli’s wicket in the fifth over. After Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) 28-run win over RCB, head coach Justin Langer lauded the 25-year-old as he was confident of taking Kohli’s wicket.
Langer was animated in the dressing room as he narrated the story: “The first thing that comes out of my mouth to M Siddharth, never spoken to him before, I saw him bowl an arm ball, and I said 'Hey Sid, you reckon you can get Virat for us?' He goes 'Yes sir!' And what do you know he gets him out!”
Siddharth opened the bowling for LSG against openers Faf du Plessis and Kohli. He conceded just three runs. In his next over, he was hit for two fours by Du Plessis but skipper KL Rahul gave him another over during powerplay overs. On the first ball of the fifth over, he was hit for a boundary on the off side by Kohli. On the next delivery, he bowled slower. Kohli came down the track but the ball turned away and Devdutt Padikkal took an easy catch at backward point.
Kohli departed for a 16-ball 22. In the next over, RCB lost two more wickets. Rahul introduced Mayank into the bowling attack. First, Du Plessis was run out by Padikkal's direct hit. Then Glenn Maxwell went for a big shot but was caught at mid-on. RCB were reduced to 48/3 in the sixth over despite a good start.
Rahul lauds bowlers for bowling display in powerplay overs
Rahul was happy with his team’s powerplay bowling as he said in the post-match presentation: “Powerplay bowling has always been a question mark for us in the two seasons that we have played, trying to fix that. We've gone spin this game, very obvious match-up against RCB which worked. We'll try to find ways to get those wickets in the powerplay.”
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