Abu Dhabi: Mohammed Siraj (3/8) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/15) wreaked havoc in a stunning display of swing and spin bowling as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) completely outplayed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to script a comprehensive eight-wicket victory in their IPL encounter here, Wednesday.
Siraj and Chahal spelled doom for KKR, who could just manage a paltry 84 for eight. In reply, RCB completed the job in 13.3 overs.
Chasing a small total, RCB were off to flying start as the openers – Aaron Finch (16) and Devdutt Padikkal (25) – added 46 runs, including a 44-run power-play. However, RCB had a double blow in the seventh over.
First, Kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson (1/17) got rid of Finch and then, two balls later, a miscommunication between Padikkal and Gurkeerat Mann (21 n o) cost the former’s wicket. After that, it was all a cake walk for RCB as skipper Virat Kohli (18 n o) and Mann took their side home without taking much risk.
Earlier, Siraj (4-2-8-3) ran through the KKR top order to trigger a stunning batting collapse and became the first bowler in the history of IPL to bowl two maiden overs while Chahal (2/15) stymied their revival hopes. It is KKR’s second-lowest total after their 67 all-out against Mumbai Indians in 2008.
Playing without Windies star players Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, KKR struggled to get going after electing to bat and it was all over for them after skipper Eoin Morgan was dismissed by Washington Sundar for 30.
It was a masterstroke from skipper Kohli to include Siraj in place of spinner Shahbaz Nadeem keeping in mind a fresh strip.
Siraj began with a double-wicket-maiden over in which he dismissed opener Rahul Tripahi (1) and Nitish Rana (0) off successive deliveries.
He followed it up with another wicket-maiden over, getting rid of Tom Banton (10) in the process. His figures read an astonishing 2-1-0-3 at that time.
Tripathi nicked one straight back to AB de Villiers behind the stumps and in the next ball Siraj ran through the gates of Rana for a golden duck.
In his next over, he accounted for hard-hitting English batsman Banton with a scrambled seam delivery to cap the best ever opening two overs in the IPL.
In between, Navdeep Saini (1/23) dismissed the in-form opener Shubman Gill (1) after the young opener mistimed a pull to be caught by Chris Morris as KKR looked in shambles with 14/4 inside four overs.
KKR had their most-experienced batsmen in Morgan and Karthik in the middle. But Chahal exposed latter’s woes against leg-spin bowling as he trapped him leg before following a successful review.
The 27-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Ferguson (19) and Kuldeep Yadav (12) allowed KKR to go past 80-run mark.
Brief scores: KKR 84/8 (Eoin Morgan 30; Lockie Fergueson 19; Mohammed Siraj 3/8, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/15) lost to RCB 85/2 (Devdutt Padikkal 25, Gurkeerat Mann 21 n o; Lockie Ferguson 1/17) by 8 wickets.
