Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a dominating win over Kolkata Knight Riders on October 21, 2020, in Abu Dhabi, as they beat them by 8 wickets, after restricting them to 84/8 as KKR batted first after winning the toss.
The hero with the ball and the Player of the Match was Mohammed Siraj for his figures of 3/8 off 4 overs, which included two maidens as well, a first in IPL history. Yuzvendra Chahal also picked two wickets, as Eoin Morgan’s decision to wield the willow backfired on his team, though he top-scored with 30.
Meanwhile, after the openers Padikkal and Finch gave RCB a good start, adding 46 runs for the first wicket, instead of Virat Kohli coming out to bat at no.3, RCB sent Gurkeerat Singh Mann in the middle and he remained unbeaten on 21 with 4 fours, to guide his side to a win with more than 6 overs to spare.
Talking about the decision to send Gurkeerat ahead of Kohli, Director of Cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mike Hesson said, “It was done to give him some confidence. He is the only one in the top five who didn't get the chance to bat before the last game. We also knew that if Varun Chakravarthy came in Gurkeerat has the ability to take on the spin.”
Gurkeerat himself was quite happy with his little cameo and spoke at the post-match presentation, saying, “Last time it was with AB sir and now with Virat bhai. A lot to learn from them and it is always good to bat alongside then and hopefully many more winning moments like this.”
With this win, RCB has gone to the second position in the points table with 14 points from 10 matches while KKR is at the fourth spot with 10 points.
RCB next take on Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, October 25.
(ANI inputs)
