Synopsis: RCB’s batting continues to be overreliant on Virat Kohli, who notched up his 8th IPL century. But Jos Buttler smashed his 6th IPL ton, and unlike Kohli, had a brilliant second act in Sanju Samson as RR made it 4 wins out of 4.
Once RCB saw off the first-over threat from Trent Boult, Virat Kohli showed just how well he’s striking the ball in the powerplay against pace this season. A short-arm jab and wristy flick off Nandre Burger and a pull off Boult got him going with three fours. Then came arguably the shot of the match, as he swivelled on his front foot to Burger and just caressed the ball for six, suffusing the pull with elegance. He was 30 off 20 balls in the powerplay against the speedsters.
Despite a middle-phase slowdown Kohli eventually finished on 113 off 72 balls for a solid strike rate of 156.94 which wasn’t that far off from that of Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler in the end.
Kohli’s season so far has been one of solitary heavy lifting. He has scored nearly 39% of RCB’s runs so far, and at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, that number went up to a whopping 62%.
The not-so-good of RCB
After that strong start though, close to the halfway stage of the innings, Kohli was 38 off 35 balls. R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal’s introduction had brought down the scoring rate.
In the end, between overs 17 and 19, Kohli scored 13 off 9 balls he faced (which did include a stunning slog sweep for six off Chahal). Especially in the 19th over, where Kohli reached the century off 67 balls, he tried to tap and run off Burger.
Would RCB have gotten to even 183 if Kohli hadn’t batted through the innings? Based on the evidence so far this season, probably not. Could a well-set, in-form Kohli have done a bit more – especially in the back-end – to push RCB a tad closer to 200? Given he knows more than anyone about RCB’s bowling woes, you’d have to say perhaps yes.
Du Plessis said after the match that RCB were perhaps 15 runs short in hindsight, and that could be down to Glenn Maxwell not firing and Dinesh Karthik left unused in the dugout. Kohli said the pitch played differently from what it seemed from the outside, as the pace changed significantly when the spinners came on to bowl. “Our initial target was 190-195 but assessing the pitch, we decided if one of me or Faf got out then one has to bat till the end to get to 180-185. We got there in the end which I feel this is an effective total. If we get the change of pace and length right, it will be difficult to get the balls away,” he said in the mid-innings chat.
Buttler-Samson power RR to 100% record
The “if..” that Kohli mentioned proved to be critical. While RR’s spinners Ashwin and Chahal combined for 62 runs in 8 overs, Mayank Dagar and Himanshu Sharma went for 63 runs in just 4 overs they bowled. RCB weren’t helped with their fielding either. In the 4th over, with Jos Buttler still searching for his timing, Green dropped a chance while running back. Then Kohli dropped Sanju Samson at deep midwicket. Dagar and Kohli at one point looked at each other and conceded a four. Yash Dayal could have done better off a mistimed Buttler pull. And Maxwell made a blunder by going for the wrong end after Buttler was stranded in the middle of the pitch.
In the end though, the summary was simple. While Buttler’s century was completed with a six off the last ball of the match, RR’s win came courtesy a sensational partnership earlier between the Englishman and Samson. RCB never quite had a partnership where both batters fired in unison. RR also maximised against RCB’s spinners, a 20-run over from Buttler off Dagar to end the powerplay swinging the momentum decisively in their favour.
Buttler struggled in the backend of last season, and to start this edition too, but came good with a 58-ball 100* to add another layer of threat for a well-rounded RR side who have now notched up four wins in four matches. For RCB’s, it’s a tale of familiar woes.
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