Be it finishing the innings or providing quick services behind the stumps, Dinesh Karthik never disappoints when he is on the field. Critics may dismiss him, but on Wednesday night he certainly showed that he had enough gas left in the tank. His unbeaten 14 off just 7 balls helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) earn their first point by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 3 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
RCB’s chase of 129 seemed easy given their batting order. But chasing the first win became difficult as the team could not stop the fall of wickets regularly. Karthik was held on till he came at number seven and ended the chase with a brilliant innings. Needing 7 runs in the last over, the 36-year-old hit a six off the first ball and then hit a boundary to take the team home.
IPL Full Coverage , the schedule , Result , orange cape , purple cap
RCB captain Faf du Plessis was impressed by Karthik’s heroism against KKR. Speaking on the post-match show, the former lauded his teammate’s calm presence with the bat, saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman is close to MS Dhoni in terms of his calm nature on the ice.
“In a perfect world, we would have preferred to win more strongly, but a victory is a victory. DK’s experience helped in the end, the cool-down, the runs were never really too far. DK is as close to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool,” du Plessis said after the match.
The thrilling three-wicket win was also Bangalore’s first win of the competition.
“Very happy (with the win). In the beginning, small margin games are very important. Chasing a small score, we just tried to stay positive and didn’t leave it late but bowled very well from their (Kolkata) pacers,” du Plessis said.
Talking about the difference in conditions from the match on Sunday and now Wednesday, du Plessis commented, “The ball swinged a bit earlier but today there was seam and bounce. Two or three days ago, it was 200 and today it was 130. We would like to be more confident. just experience. Run was never a problem. We just needed to take wickets in hand.”
Read also | Latest IPL 2022 Points Table Update After RCB Vs KRR Match
Du Plessis signed on saying that he gets help from other players on the team to strategize.
“I depend on other people for help. We have great people in the camp. There is good communication in the group. The people have been great. They have been supported. They are coming to me with ideas,” he concluded .
(with agency input)
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates And cricket score Here