Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers showed their class to set the game: Chris Jordan
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were arguably in the best position to experience the massacre they were partaking at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. However, Dinesh Karthik, the Gujarat Lions wicketkeeper, believed he was in the best position to witness the carnage as the pair of Kohli and de Villiers put on 248 runs on the board on Saturday (May 14).
It was an innings that did not just break records, but shattered them hollow as Kohli and de Villiers both scored centuries and plundered 172 runs off the last ten overs. "I think I was in the best position," Karthik said with a smile, after the whopping 144-run loss. "I was in a better position than the runner also; I was that close to the batsman. It was mind-boggling. These kind of innings don't happen often. They are two special players and they really stood up today for the team and did a brilliant job for RCB," he conceded.
With a daunting target as such, the opposition has little choice but to come out attacking, which more often than not, results in the loss of wickets. Similarly, Gujarat's openers, Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum came out with the intent of attacking, but with both gone in the powerplay, the game was as good as over for them.
"The key in a chase like 248 is the start; we were straightaway two wickets down in the powerplay. From there you're just trying," Karthik said. "If you look at get going, you're going to score runs, but if you don't get going, you just shut shop and say 'let's just play the 20 overs and come out'. I think Chahal bowled a good spell and took a couple of wickets. They kept the pressure on us."
Yuzvendra Chahal has been Kohli's go-to bowler this season. Introduced into the attack in the fifth over, he straightaway cramped McCullum for room, forcing a false shot from the New Zealander that went straight to de Villiers at long on. From there, Gujarat went from 41 for 2 in the powerplay to 69 for 7 as the hosts' bowlers dominated proceedings.
"Wickets matter in these sort of games and they got those upfront and in the middle, they got two in two balls. Once wickets keep falling, the bowlers are on top. Then it was up to the lower-middle order. It is very hard for them to come and keep going from ball one. The game was gone. From there we were just playing catch up and make sure we bat as long as we can for the run rate. To be fair to them, nothing that we did worked. Apart from the toss, nothing went right for us. These things don't happen too often, but it was one of those days that caught us unaware."
Lions had come into this game with a Net Run Rate of -0.138, tied on points with Sunrisers Hyderabad at the top of the table. However, the 144-run whooping by Bangalore have made things worse for them as their NRR now has fallen further to -0.747, while Hyderabad have one of 0.417.
Lions have the chance to make amends in their next two games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians. A five-day break before their clash against Knight Riders in Kanpur couldn't have come at a better time, with the side in dire need of time to recuperate from such a loss.
"I think after a game like this, it's good to have a five-day break," Karthik acknowledged. "You need two days to just feel the game and forget it and then move on. In five days' time, we would come back as better players...at least, we would've forgotten these two innings. Because if we had to come back to play tomorrow or day after you would see the backlash. We would've been a bit worried going into the game. To be fair, five days is a good break for us. Some of the guys are going away in the couple of days off for us and we would regroup after. We got two important games and we would want to come out hard there."
Apart from Lions' players who witnessed the surreal innings from Kohli and de Villiers in awe, the Bangalore unit followed every ball that was bowled with bated breath, given the genius of the two players that was on display.
"It was a little bit surreal really," said a mesmerised Chris Jordan. "Obviously I've joined the tournament halfway through and coming into a team of this calibre, I was hoping that something like that would happen and I would be able to witness something like that live. And boy, what a performance it was!
"They really showed their class today. And really went through the gears. When they needed to take a single they took a single, when it was time to go, they played. Don't think they mishit a ball, which was phenomenal really. They really set up the game for us bowlers to go out there and express ourselves and take wickets, which we did."
Royal Challengers' bowling, which was a point of contention going into every game they have played so far this season, finally managed to dismiss a side in the 11 games they have played so far. Jordan, himself was taken to the cleaners in the three games that he partook in, going for 132 runs in 11 overs for just one wicket.
"I still think I have some improvements to make," said Jordan, after he returned with figures of 4 for 11 in three overs. "As I said time and time again, I do have high standards for myself. I still need to improve on a little bit of precision and temperament as well. I don't think I'm back to my best as yet, that's still to come."
The Bangalore stadium's small boundaries with the wicket aiding run-scoring, poses a challenge to the job of the bowlers, who collectively go for more than they would at any other venue. When asked about what the bowlers need to keep in mind leading into a game at Royal Challengers' home ground, Jordan said: "You must expect your figures to be a little bit higher than at any other stadium. If you can probably go at 8 you think you've done a good job for the team. Such a small ground and mishits can go for sixes as well but you need to keep backing your skill and backing your methods and hopefully it works out for you in the end.
"Because guys hit the ball so cleanly and so far these days, it can be a little bit demoralising, but you have to stay nice and calm under pressure and try to execute. If it doesn't go your way on the day, you need to move on very quickly because if you dwell on it, it could affect your next performance," he concluded.
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