ABU DHABI: Pacer Mohammed Siraj’s fiery opening spell, accentuated by two rare wicket-maiden overs, set up RCB’s dominant eight-wicket victory over KKR on Wednesday.
Siraj killed the contest, running through the KKR top order in a stunning display of swing bowling.
He ended with enviable figures of 4-2-8-3 and in the process emerged as the first bowler in the history of IPL to bowl two wicket- maiden overs. After Siraj’s furious display, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/15) stymied KKR’s revival hopes as RCB restricted them to their second lowest total of 84 for eight.
In reply, RCB completed the formalities in 13.3 overs, securing their seventh win from 10 matches and moved up a place to second in the table with 14 points. RCB lost their opener Finch (16) after the Powerplay overs with Lockie Ferguson striking in his first over. Devdutt Padikkal (25) was run out as RCB lost two wickets in the same over.
Skipper Virat Kohli (18not out) and Gurkeerat Singh (21 not out) ensured that there were no more hiccups. They sealed the win with 39 balls to spare. It was a forgettable day for KKR who capped a slew of dubious records that included registering the lowest score in a 20-over IPL innings without a team getting bowled out.
It was for the first time a team played four maiden overs in a T20 innings. They also scored their lowest Powerplay score of 17/4. Tripathi nicked one straight back to 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 (10) with a scrambled seam delivery to cap the best ever opening two overs in the IPL.
KKR had their most-experienced batsmen in Morgan and Karthik in the middle.Chahal exposed latter’s woes against leg-spin bowling following a successful review. (PTI)
