RCB vs KKR, 31st Match at Abu Dhabi, Sep 20 2021, Indian Premier League

RESULT
31st Match (N), Abu Dhabi, September 20, 2021, Indian Premier League

KKR won by 9 wickets (with 60 balls remaining)

Player Of The Match
3/13
varun-chakravarthy
Cricinfo's MVP
64.98 ptsImpact List
andre-russell
Match centre 
Scores: Venkat Raghav | Comms: Shashank Kishore
Scorecard summary
Royal Challengers Bangalore 92/10(19 overs)
Kolkata Knight Riders 94/1(10 overs)
Cricinfo’s Most Valuable Players of the Match
PLAYERTeam
TI
Runs
I. Runs
B. Impact
Bowl
I. Wkts
Bo. Impact
KKR64.98--03/93.5264.98
KKR53.75--03/132.8353.75
KKR42.0748(34)48.1442.07--0
KKR37.641(27)41.2537.6--0
KKR35.34--01/241.7935.34
end of over 1012 runs • 1 wicket
KKR: 94/1CRR: 9.40 
Venkatesh Iyer41 (27b 7x4 1x6)
Andre Russell0 (0b)
Yuzvendra Chahal 2-0-23-1
Harshal Patel 2-0-13-0

That's that for tonight. An early finish, quite rare in the IPL. But hey, we'll take that gladly for a change. Lots of cricket coming up. On Tuesday, Rajasthan Royals take on the Punjab Kings. Much before all that, very early in the morning, at 5.30am, India Women kick off their tour of Australia with the 1st ODI. Do join us for all that and much more. Until then, this is Shashank Kishore saying goodbye on behalf of Himanshu Agarwal, Venkat Raghav and Chandan Duroah. Thanks so much for joining us.

It's time for the presentations

Eoin Morgan: "Very rarely do you perform as well as we have today. The talent we have within our squad, it counts for nothing, you have to still go out and show how strong you are and we did today. I didn't think the wicket changed a great deal, RCB started well, but taking a wicket at the backend of the PP changed things for us. Collectively, we took valuable wickets. Maxwell, AB, Virat - we managed to get on top of all of them, it's very rare as well. As a group, with the expressive nature with which the guys play, playing under me or Baz, should be an absolute treat. We're not going to knock people for playing their shots. We have a long way to go, need a lot of things to go right. Today's the right start, need that run of confidence. We haven't turned up for the majority of the tournament, but today was a great start."

Varun Chakravarthy is the Player of the Match for his 3 for 13. He bowled 15 dot balls in his four-overs spell, took a catch and also ran out Kyle Jamieson. "When I have the ball in my hand, I try to assess the pitch," he says. "It was flat, credit to the bowlers for bowling well in the PP. I like to set it up for the bowlers who come on after me. There wasn't much spin on offer, so I had to keep my line on the stumps only. Playing for India has made me feel better, I have a sense of acceptance from people around me, because I started at 26."

Virat Kohli: "Was important to get a good partnership. We didn't expect that much dew to kick in that early. From 42 for 1, we lost 5 wickets for 20-odd. Bit of a wake-up call, might as well have this at the start of the second leg so that we know what we should work on. You can make the argument that we were rusty but as professionals you're expected to turn up and adjust. Sometimes it can take you a game, I hope not two, to get into the tournament, you have to stay with the eight-ball, if you're not, the other teams will be all over you. Pretty good from Varun, he's going to be a key factor when he plays for India. It's great guys who've got the opportunity to play at the international level. He's someone who is going to play in the near future for India, it's a great sign. We have five win from eight, we expect a loss here and there, it's part and parcel, need to be professional, stick to our strengths and execute our plans. We have absolute confidence in our squad to pull up next game onwards and put in strong performances."

Shubman Gill: We wanted to make a comeback from where we were, it was a bold statement. Hopefully we will continue and qualify. It was a good opportunity to get our run rate going, that was the plan and happy to execute it. Venkatesh Iyer was batting well in the practice matches as well, to bat and have such a great performance on debut is pleasing. My return felt good, was gutted by the way I got out but hopefully I'll complete it in the next game. The way we started off, after the first six overs, the way we bowled, was great to see Sunny and Varun come into the mix. I think in the first innings, it was a bit slow, in the second innings, the ball was coming on pretty nicely."

As Varun Shetty notes in his Live Report, this is a lovely return to IPL cricket for a team that was itching to turn things around. Tonight has also been a vindication of their team combination. They showed faith in Russell as a fifth bowler, shored up their batting, and they have judged that bit to perfection - he does look fitter than he did last time round. Complemented the other two fast bowlers perfectly, and ripped out de Villiers' stumps first ball; that lower-middle order stood no chance at rebuilding against the quality of two mystery spinners. Chakravarthy and Narine capped off their bowling plans perfectly to set up the win.

8.50pm Knight Riders have started phase-2 with an incredible win. By polishing off a small chase in the way they have, KKR have also massively boosted their net run rate to move to fifth in the points table. What an entertaining little knock from Venkatesh Iyer on IPL debut. Shubman Gill was enterprising too, and you could see shades of the belligerence and freedom McCullum wanted them to play with to kick off this phase.

9.6
4
Chahal to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR runs

he has absolutely clobbered the pull to the deep midwicket boundary and KKR have shellacked RCB by nine wickets!

9.5
4
Chahal to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR runs

steps out and powers this down the ground, bisects long-on and long-off. Boy, isn't he strong or what?

9.4
Chahal to Venkatesh Iyer, no run

slows it down nicely as he lands it on a length, Iyer pushes it back down the pitch

9.3
4
Chahal to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR runs

he has picked the googly and reverse-swept him disdainfully over point

9.2
Chahal to Venkatesh Iyer, no run

drilled, but that's an excellent diving stop by Kohli moving to his left from extra cover

Do you see this KKR side making it to the qualifiers? Head over to the Live Report and cast your vote.

9.1
W
Chahal to Gill, OUT

he's holed out to long-off. Gill lives by the sword, dies by it. Looking to step out and launch Yuzi down into Sheikh Zayed Road, but doesn't time it well. Ends up slicing this to Siraj.

Shubman Gill c Mohammed Siraj b Chahal 48 (34b 6x4 1x6 48m) SR: 141.17
end of over 97 runs
KKR: 82/0CRR: 9.11 RRR: 1.00 • Need 11 from 66b
Shubman Gill48 (33b 6x4 1x6)
Venkatesh Iyer29 (22b 4x4 1x6)
Harshal Patel 2-0-13-0
Wanindu Hasaranga 2-0-20-0
8.6
1
Harshal to Gill, 1 run

wrists this length ball to the man coming in from deep midwicket

8.5
4
Harshal to Gill, FOUR runs

whips this full toss on middle and leg, and guess what happens? The deep midwicket fielder makes a right royal mess of a simple stop. Oh, Sachin Baby! He overran the ball, then slipped in trying to correct himself.

8.4
Harshal to Gill, no run

slower bouncer outside off, Gill lets that pass at the last moment

SidB: "Does anyone else think Iyer looks like an exact copy of Paddikal?" -- Just the set up. Devdutt is more elegant. Iyer has brute force

8.3
1
Harshal to Venkatesh Iyer, 1 run

tough chance put down by Harshal on his followthrough! This was punched back by Iyer and Harshal put in a dive to his left, went one-handed, but didn't stick.

8.2
Harshal to Venkatesh Iyer, no run

beaten as he tries to run this down to third man. First gave the impression that he'd walk across, then made room to manufacture a stroke, nothing worked.

8.1
1
Harshal to Gill, 1 run

steps out to a full toss as he punches it past cover

end of over 813 runs
KKR: 75/0CRR: 9.37 RRR: 1.50 • Need 18 from 72b
Venkatesh Iyer28 (20b 4x4 1x6)
Shubman Gill42 (29b 5x4 1x6)
Wanindu Hasaranga 2-0-20-0
Harshal Patel 1-0-6-0
7.6
4
Hasaranga to Venkatesh Iyer, FOUR runs

he has switch-pulled him over backward point! Wanindu dragged it down, he had enough time to change grip and help it over.

7.5
1
Hasaranga to Gill, 1 run

drops short, he rocks back and cuts to deep cover

7.4
Hasaranga to Gill, no run

flatter and fuller on middle, turns it into the leg side

7.3
2
Hasaranga to Gill, 2 runs

has a wild swing at this, gets a thick inside edge down to fine leg for a couple

7.2
6
Hasaranga to Gill, SIX runs

covers for the line as he picks this wrong'un and clobbers this over long-on! Excellent use of the feet

7.1
Hasaranga to Gill, no run

struck on the pad as he doesn't pick the googly, but Gill was a long way forward and this would've missed leg too.

end of over 76 runs
KKR: 62/0CRR: 8.85 RRR: 2.38 • Need 31 from 78b
Venkatesh Iyer24 (19b 3x4 1x6)
Shubman Gill33 (24b 5x4)
Harshal Patel 1-0-6-0
Yuzvendra Chahal 1-0-11-0
6.6
Harshal to Venkatesh Iyer, no run

steps out, Harshal bangs it in and Iyer can't connect in trying to pull. Was off balance, the ball rolls off the toe-end to midwicket

6.5
1
Harshal to Gill, 1 run

makes room, Harshal follows him by cramping him for room, punched to deep point

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
Shubman Gill
48 runs (34)
6 fours1 six
Productive shot
cover drive
12 runs
1 four0 six
Control
89%
VR Iyer
41 runs (27)
7 fours1 six
Productive shot
reverse sweep
8 runs
2 fours0 six
Control
74%
Best performances - bowlers
AD Russell
O
3
M
0
R
9
W
3
ECO
3
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
1W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
CV Varun
O
4
M
0
R
13
W
3
ECO
3.25
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
2W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
Match details
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
TossRoyal Challengers Bangalore, elected to bat first
Series
Season2021
Player Of The Match
Hours of play (local time)18.00 start, First Session 18.00-19.30, Interval 19.30-19.50, Second Session 19.50-21.20
Match days20 September 2021 - night (20-over match)
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
PointsKolkata Knight Riders 2, Royal Challengers Bangalore 0
Language
English
Win Probability
KKR 100%
RCBKKR
100%50%100%RCB InningsKKR Innings

Over 10 • KKR 94/1

Shubman Gill c Mohammed Siraj b Chahal 48 (34b 6x4 1x6 48m) SR: 141.17
W
KKR won by 9 wickets (with 60 balls remaining)
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Indian Premier League

TEAMMWLPTNRR
DC14104200.481
CSK1495180.455
RCB149518-0.140
KKR1477140.587
MI1477140.116
PBKS146812-0.001
RR145910-0.993
SRH143116-0.545