Introduction: 

Life is very unfair with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They can lose a match just for 1 run. Well, yes, this is true. Yesterday, RCB was scheduled to play the 36th match of the IPL 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders, and they lost the match by 1 run only. With this result, KKR maintained the winning streak and RCB maintained the losing streak in the IPL 2024. It is important to mention that RCB has won only 1 match in the whole tournament till now.  Let’s take a closer look at the match to get the highlights of the match. Stay tuned with  Cricfeverr.com to get match highlights like this.

Let’s focus on the overview of the match:

Yesterday, 21st April 2024, KKR & RCB were scheduled to play the 36th match of the IPL 2024. The venue of the match was Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the match started at 3:30 PM.

Who won the toss & what they did do?

The start of the match was happier for RCB. RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first.

What happened in the match?

Well, there was nothing much to happen and nothing much happened as well. RCB won the toss and decided to bowl first. We thought that they would restrict KKR to a manageable target. However, KKR posted a target of 222/6 in just 20 overs. Now let us mention that RCB has a history of collapsing in front of 200+ targets and they did it again.

Andre Russell and Sunil Narine turned the game single-handedly.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer hit a half-century, while Phil Salt and Ramandeep Singh produced quickfire knocks as Kolkata Knight Riders posted 222/6 in 20 overs.

Although it is a fact that KKR kept losing the wickets, however, KKR never lost the momentum of the game for a second even.

Narine is becoming a threat to every opposition team under the right guidance of Gautam Gambhir. Narine picked his 172th wicket in this match. It is the highest in the IPL history by a player for a single team. Narine has been in terrific form with the bat and scored a brilliant century in the last match against RR which was also his maiden in the shortest format. The left-handed batter is KKR’s leading run-getter this season, with 276 runs at an incredible strike rate of over 187.

The next best KKR batter is his opening partner Phil Salt, who has struck at a rate of 151-plus. With a maiden fifty to his name, youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi has impressed with his batting.

Rinku Singh and Andre Russell have got limited opportunities but the duo has managed to mark an impact with small cameos at the fag end of the innings.

Now time to focus on the performance of RCB. although it is a fact that RCB tried hard in this match, however, the whole RCB team is dependent on Kohli alone and yesterday’s match showed it again.

The batting unit has failed to put up a collective effort in the middle as only Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik are the only batters who have displayed some consistency with the bat. Skipper Faf du Plessis also failed to make an impact with the bat and his captaincy also came under the scanners.

Kohli is the leading run-getter this season thus far with 361 runs at 72.20. The lack of support from the other end has also impacted his strike rate. Du Plessis has been their next-best batter with 232 runs, but it’s seasoned wicketkeeper-batter Karthik, who has been phenomenal in his final IPL season.

The veteran has amassed 226 runs at a strike-rate of 205-plus and in the monstrous chase against SRH, it was his 35-ball 83 that gave them hope of scripting an improbable win before they fell short by 25 runs.

Post-match reaction:

KKR bagged the match just by 1 run only. Well, we must say that this match has increased our blood pressure. So, it is natural that the KKR captain felt more pressure during the match.

“It takes a lot off your body and drains you out completely because you go through so many emotions. It’s tough to stay calm but I’m elated. We got two points on the board and that’s all that matters,” said Iyer during the post-match presentation.

“It’s extremely tough when the pressure is on. I feel that every individual should put their hands up and take responsibility.” the captain added.

Like a good captain, Shreyas didn’t forget to appreciate the extraordinary performance by Andre Russel. It is important to mention that Andre took 3/25 with the ball and contributed a crucial 27 off 20 balls with the bat.

“Russell did the job for us by picking up two wickets and completely changed the game in our favour. That is the kind of attitude needed in the team.” Shreyas also mentioned in his speech.

Final words: 

RCB management should take a step to improve the situation of the team. Stay tuned with  Cricfeverr.com to get match highlights like this.