RCB vs KKR | Player Ratings - Andre Russell single-handedly turns game once again as Kolkata Knight Riders hand Royal Challengers Bangalore fifth consecutive loss
Andre Russell did it yet again and this time, not under the sweltering Mohali heat but rather under the cool Bengaluru sky. Russell brought his A game to the fore to ensure the best T20 batsman debate came to an end and in the process, Royal Challengers Bangalore threw away yet another game.
Chris Lynn (7.5/10): If fluency would’ve been the measure of T20 innings, then Lynn might have traded this innings for any other. He was scratchy, yet efficient enough to drag himself forward to keep the visitors in the fray after Sunil Narine’s dismissal. Although he had luck on his side, his partnership with Robin Uthappa put KKR in a good position before being dismissed by Pawan Negi for 43.
Sunil Narine (7.5/10): Ever since he started opening the batting for KKR, some people have forgotten that he is primarily a bowler, who does his run-containing job to perfection. In his four overs, Narine cost KKR only 30 runs and got the all important wicket of AB de Villiers before the RCB man could inflict some real damage. He failed with the bat though, scoring only 10 runs off eight balls before being the victim to a Pawan Negi blinder.
Robin Uthappa (6.5/10): Among all decisions that KKR made in last year’s auction, deciding to stay with Uthappa had to be one of the best decisions so far. He might’ve moved to the comfort of the commentary box for the international matches, his IPL form hasn’t dwindled a bit and he is still going strong. Looked classy in the entire duration he was there, but couldn’t convert that to a big score.
Nitish Rana (7/10): Rana was self-sufficient with the bat, trying to find a way out on every delivery. This attitude helped him score a fluent 37 after heavily contributing with the ball where he managed to get rid of Parthiv Patel just when the wicket-keeper looked threatening. However, Rana, on the field, was the most attractive to watch - sliding in to collect the balls like there was no tomorrow, and running around without a shade of pain on the face.
Dinesh Karthik (4.5/10): The KKR skipper uses his cricketing brain beautifully and the way he rotates his bowlers was just a lesson for Virat Kohli. However, the very simple question to DK - Why don’t you use the brain with equal efficiency while batting? Nothing can explain why he throws his wicket away despite looking in good touch, in every other match.
Shubman Gill (6/10): If the Chinnaswamy audience pays some of the highest
Andre Russell (X/10): I have decided not to give him a rating today because there is nothing that can explain the kind of form the KKR man is enjoying. Brute force. The man for all seasons and currently the best T20 player in the world. Do pull off all the adjectives that you can bring from the dictionary, and yet you will fall short to describe what this guy adds to the table. Single-handedly changed the course of the game in a go, like he has done it over and over again for the team in the past, to guide the team over the line. The ODI Virat Kohli in T20s. No contest.
Piyush Chawla (5/10): Virat Kohli was in very good touch tonight, but Chawla, briefly yet incandescently, brought KKR back into the game with some clever variations. His googlies were the most effective weapon against the RCB skipper, who decided to be more watchful, and that allowed him to finish the overs rapidly. An economy rate of 7.50 is always a good figure at the Chinnaswamy.
Kuldeep Yadav (7/10): The left-arm wrist-spinner may not have been a regular wicket-taker in the IPL like Yuzvendra Chahal, but the accuracy at times forces the other batsmen to commit errors. For example, Virat Kohli made one huge blunder tonight and despite being in very good nick, he played one across the line to give a simple catch back to the bowler. It wrested the momentum back in the visitors’ favour for a bit.
Lockie Ferguson (2/10): Gave away 32 runs in only a couple of overs and that summed up his experience at Chinnaswamy. On a belter of a wicket, a pacer first needed to understand the fact that wicket doesn’t come with the traditional approach, but in Lockie Ferguson’s bowling tonight, there was hardly any startling ambition to adapt to it.
Prasidh Krishna(4/10): The Karnataka spinner has played all his cricket at Chinnaswamy and knows the ground well. However, he found the length very difficult to pick in the first over, and even when he returned to finish the quota of overs, he couldn’t find the right length. One of those off-days for the pacer, but hey, wasn't it
