Coulter-Nile, Umesh dismantle Bangalore
Six overs, 36 runs, four wickets. Those were Umesh Yadav and Nathan Coulter-Nile's combined figures, setting the base for Knight Riders' cruise past Royal Challengers Bangalore
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Apr-2017
Nathan Coulter-Nile troubled batsmen with his pace and bounce • BCCI
After rain had delayed the game by 30 minutes, Kolkata Knight Riders had laboured to an underwhelming 131 after being 65 for 1 within the Powerplay. But there were signs, when Royal Challengers Bangalore bowled, that conditions weren't easy for batting.
Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir started with a short leg for Nathan Coulter-Nile, who overstepped with his first delivery. The subsequent free-hit was dug in and struck Chris Gayle on his shoulder, beating him for pace and bounce. That was all Coulter-Nile needed to steam in for the remainder of his spell. He had Virat Kohli nicking off to second slip, and also removed AB de Villiers and Kedar Jadhav off leading edges.
Coulter-Nile was excellently backed up by Umesh Yadav at the other end. Both bowlers clocked in excess of 140 kph, troubled batsmen with pace and sufficient lateral movement. Umesh also had Mandeep Singh caught at point to help Knight Riders rip through the Royal Challengers top order. Both bowlers split the Powerplay overs, and did the bulk of the work to inflict a heavy defeat.