First, in the 13th over bowled by Vijaykumar Vyshak, Siraj dropped Nitish Rana, the captain of KKR, while he was batting on 5. Then, in the 15th over, off Siraj, Rana was dropped by Harshal, giving him another reprieve.
At M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, the hitters for the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2023 team had a good time taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, and Rinku Singh all contributed to KKR’s massive score of 200/5 in 20 overs with their blistering batting. The batting lineup performed flawlessly, while RCB stalwarts Mohammed Siraj (4-0-33-0) and Harshal Patel (4-0-44-0) did not. They weren’t just wasteful with the bat; their fielding was awful as well. First, in the 13th over bowled by Vijaykumar Vyshak, Siraj dropped Nitish Rana, the captain of KKR, while he was batting on 5. Then, in the 15th over, off Siraj, Rana was dropped by Harshal, giving him another reprieve.
The pair took a lot of heat for their missed opportunities.
The Kolkata Knight Riders got their mojo back on Wednesday in the IPL and posted a spirited 200 for five against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, powered by Jason Roy’s scorching fifty. Having fallen to seventh place following four consecutive losses, KKR finally got going thanks to Roy’s blistering 29-ball 56, which included five sixes and four boundaries. Roy and Narayan Jagadeesan (27; 29b) then gave KKR their best-ever start, scoring 83 runs in 56 balls.
Hasaranga, a Sri Lankan leg spin wonder, returned with 4-0-24-2 after two great spells, sandwiching KKR’s batting between them.
After the powerplay, his spell of misfortune inspired Vyshak to strike twice by sending both Jagadeesan and Roy packing.
Nitish Rana, though, made sure they didn’t let up by scoring a quickfire 21-ball 48 (3×4, 4×6) by capitalizing on two lifelines (on balls five and 19).
Rinku Singh, KKR’s newfound hero (18 not out; 10b), then took over, smashing two fours and a six to help his team cross the 200-mark.
David Wiese hit two sixes and went undefeated with 12 runs.
Roy gave KKR a lesson in how to use the powerplay by scoring fifty off only 22 balls for the second time this season.
When left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed entered the game in the final over of the powerplay, the Englishman proved his intent by wreaking havoc on the likes of RCB’s new ball bowlers Mohammed Siraj and David Willey.
In KKR’s highest powerplay score of the season (66 for no loss), Roy hammered him for four sixes in five balls.
Hasaranga, the wily Sri Lankan spinner, deserves credit for a tidy over following the powerplay in which he allowed only two runs, significantly increasing the pressure on the two batsmen.
When boundaries dried up, Vyshak and Harshal Patel tightened the noose as well, and it showed.
Jagadeesan, who was having trouble making big hits, fell victim to a Vyshak bouncer, while Roy was bowled out by a brilliant leg stump yorker from the uncapped Indian.
