AI Simulation, RCB vs KKR | Tim David’s late carnage powers Bengaluru in Raipur thriller
Royal Challengers Bengaluru make their way to the playoffs by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders. Tim David played an explosive cameo which powered RCB to a competitive total in this game. After this, Josh Hazlewood held his nerve in the chase to allow RCB to grab the win.
Pitch and Weather
The match will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, where the surface is expected to be flat and batter-friendly offering consistent bounce and quick outfield. This venue has already produced some high scoring thrillers in the IPL, and we could expect another one in this game. Pacers will get some movement early in the game, but the dew factor in the second innings will make bowling difficult. The weather for this game is warm and humid with clear skies.
Toss
Kolkata Knight Riders wins the toss and decides to bowl first, aiming to chase later when the dew arrives.
Lineups
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar (Impact)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy (Impact)
Match Report
Royal Challengers Bengaluru got off to a strong start, with Virat Kohli and Jacob Bethell scoring 67/1 in the powerplay. Jacob Bethell was attacking the bowlers from the very beginning before he lost his wicket to Varun Chakravarthy. While Virat Kohli continued to anchor the innings beautifully.
Rajat Patidar was able to maintain the momentum by attacking the spinners with his stroke play. Kohli went on to bring a classy half-century. KKR was able to slow down the momentum by bringing in Varun and Narine, as they removed Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma in quick succession. But Tim David and Romario Shepherd dominated in the final four overs by scoring 58 runs, as RCB finished at 213/6.
In reply, Kolkata Knight Riders came up with Finn Allen who attacked Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood in the powerplay. This helped the team to score 74/2 in the powerplay, even after losing Rahane early. Cameron Green and Rinku Singh stitched an important partnership together which kept KKR alive in the chase.
The turning point arrived when Suyash Sharma dismissed Cameron Green and Rovman Powell in successive overs, which shifted the momentum towards RCB. Rinku Singh continued to fight as he scored 61 runs off 34 balls but he lacked support from the other end. KKR needed 24 runs off the last over, where Hazlewood held his nerve allowing KKR to finish at 202/8.
Player of the Match
Tim David wins the Player of the Match award for scoring 44 runs off 16 balls, which powered RCB to score a massive total.