Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) secured their first victory in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on March 30 (Wednesday). RCB beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by three wickets.
RCB wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik played an important knock of 14 (not out) off just seven deliveries to help his side get over the line in a low-scoring encounter. After the game, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis praised Karthik and also compared him with former India skipper MS Dhoni.
Faf explains
“Very happy. Good win, obviously chasing small scores, you want to be positive and not leave it late, but it was good bowling from their seamers. Tonight there was seam and bounce, first night it swung a bit more. Two-three days ago, it was 200 v 200. Tonight it was 120 v 120, pretty good,” RCB skipper Du Plessis said.
“In an ideal world, we would've liked to have won more convincingly but a win is a win. DK's experience helped in the end, cool-calm, runs weren't never really too far away. He's probably as cool as MS Dhoni can get in the last five overs,” he further added.
Karthik's cameo
RCB needed seven runs to win from last six balls with three wickets remaining. Karthik hit a six off the first ball against KKR all-rounder Andre Russell and followed it with a boundary to clinch a crucial win for his side.
Earlier, batting first, the Shreyas Iyer-led side managed to score 128 in 18.5 overs after a batting collapse. RCB’s Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga picked up four wickets and pacer Akash Deep claimed three wickets to restrict the opposition to a small total. For KKR, Russell turned out to be their highest scorer in the game after the West Indies all-rounder scored 25 runs off 18 balls. His innings was comprised of one boundary and three sixes.
In reply, the Bangalore-based team could not start the run chase on a positive note as they lost their first three wickets scoring just 17 runs. Later, Sherfane Rutherford (28 runs off 40 balls) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27 runs off 20 balls) helped stabilise the run chase. Eventually, Karthik and Harshal Patel's crucial cameos sealed the victory for RCB with four balls to spare.
