Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered one of their most humiliating defeat in recent times, as they were beaten by eight wickets, by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), on Wednesday. After the Match 39 in Abu Dhabi, RCB have risen to the second spot, while KKR continue to stay at fourth, for now. Nonetheless, we take a look at the talking points from the game.
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Shubman Gill needs to score during powerplay: Gill is one of the finest batsmen in the KKR camp currently. Although he times the ball right, he is struggling to find the gaps, especially during the powerplay. He needs to improve upon it in the coming games, as KKR are failing to get it going during the phase.
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Mohammad Siraj might have proved with the new ball and at death: Siraj's spell of 38, besides claiming the wickets during the powerplay, has proved that he can do it with the new ball on slow tracks. He has already proven himself lethal at the death, especially on batting tracks, like in Bengaluru, while he is an already established bowler in First-Class cricket.
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RCB stick to winning combination against KKR: RCB had won their previous tie this season against KKR as well, where they were victorious by a massive margin of 82 runs. Although RCB had won their tie prior to KKR on Wednesday, skipper Virat Kohli decided to make a change, in order to retain the winning XI against KKR. It eventually turned out to be a smart move, as the latter were once again pushed onto the backfoot.
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KKR chose to bat, but could they really be blamed? One of the points that came up following KKR's disastrous batting is the decision to bat first by skipper Eoin Morgan. While bowling first would have really been advantageous for them, given the trend this season, where the teams batting first have won on most occasions, they can't really be blamed. Also, the tracks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been so unpredictable that the toss hardly matters this season.
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Did RCB bowl well, or KKR committed harakiri? KKR did underperform with the bat, but the credit should go to the RCB bowlers, for being able to utilise the conditions perfectly. However, were the conditions so unfavourable to batting, or did the KKR batsmen commit harakiri? Although we can't really answer it, the KKR batsmen surely could have done better. Although the intent was there, playing a composed innings following the early setbacks could have helped them. Unfortunately, the RCB bowlers did not allow them to do so.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan elected to bat. However, they were off to a horror start, as they lost four wickets in the powerplay. It was Morgan, who played a brave knock of 30, while Mohammad Siraj's 38 restricted them to 848 in 20 overs. In reply, RCB had the psychological advantage, as despite losing two wickets, they chased it down with ease, in 14 overs.
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