IPL 2023 - Live Report: RCB vs KKR in Bengaluru

Kohli blames the poor fielding and soft dismissals as the reason behind their defeat. That sums up their performance. He didn't hold back today while holding the microphone, even though he isn't really the franchise captain.

He says "we were just one more partnership away from winning".

Meanwhile, Varun Chakravarthy dedicates his POTM award to his new-born son. A heartwarming way for us to close the live blog too. Thank you for joining us.

It took Kolkata Knight Riders eight games to finally produce a cohesive, team performance. They excelled with bat and ball, and were the tidier side on the field, and their all-round effort earned them their third win of the season. It was the perfect way for them to start the second half of their league-stage campaign and also helped them complete the season double over Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Knight Riders’ win was set up by a blazing half-century from Jason Roy, who laid the base with a 29-ball 56. Nitish Rana then pumped 48 in 21 balls to keep the momentum going through the middle overs. Towards the end, Rinku Singh (18 in 10) and David Wiese (12 in three) put the finishing touches, which helped Knight Riders finish on 200 for 5.

The chase of 201, though, was on while Virat Kohli was out there. He scored 54 in 37 to keep Royal Challengers within touching distance of the chase. However, regular wickets from Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell kept Knight Riders marginally in front. And when the final overs rolled on, the Royal Challengers lost their steam and the visitors pulled ahead to complete a win by 21 runs.

Chakravarthy's third scalp finally breaks RCB's back. The hosts now need to ensure their NRR doesn't take a big hit. For all purposes, this game is done.

There were some eyebrows raised that DK came in to bat with four overs of spin still to go, but he has managed to rotate the strike well while finding the occasional boundary. He does know this KKR outfit well, being their past captain, but he needs to be scoring more runs per over if RCB are to win this.

His task gets tougher with Hasaranga also falling to Russell.

There couldn't be a tougher challenge than bowling at the Chinnaswamy. But the wristspinner has a big heart.

And you need that on grounds such as the Chinnaswamy. He bowls out with 2-30 in four overs, and his tidy final over also brought a run-out with Prabhudessai slow to respond to DK's call for two.

The guy is not even 20. What a bright future he has, outshining the legend Sunil Narine and the experienced Varun Chakravarthy day in and day out.

Always happens when Kohli gets out. More so when Kohli appears to be the man who can take RCB home. Even more so with Faf and Maxwell out early.

But Kohli has been dismissed trying to pull Russell in front of square. Venky Iyer with a smart diving catch at cow corner and Kohli is gone for a 37-ball 54.

He doesn't want to leave. Drags his feet out of the playing area. Prabhudessai joins DK with only Hasaranga and the tailenders left. RCB 115/5 in 12.1 overs with KKR now holding the aces.

Before this game, the most runs by a batter at a single T20 venue was Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim on 2985.

Today's innings has seen Virat Kohli go past him and also breach 3000 runs. No batter in T20 cricket history has scored 3000 runs at one venue before Kohli today. An icon at the Chinnaswamy.

Full list of stat: Here.

The left-hand batter was just getting in the groove. After thumping Narine for two sixes, he hammered Chakravarthy for another one. But trying to repeat that, he fails to clear deep midwicket, this time caught by Russell off the same spinner.

Kohli with a big groan of disappointment as KKR get the wicket against the run of play. But the lad has done his job, scoring 34 in 18. RCB 113/4 in 11.3 overs with Dinesh Karthik walking in at No. 6.

Kohli's pushing on with Lomror to keep RCB in the chase. He got to his fifty by smacking Suyash down the ground, getting there with a terrific strike-rate. His wife Anushka Sharma applauds his effort but he has a muted celebration. He would want to celebrate only after winning the game.

Last week, Kohli had gone to Central Tiffin Room (CTR) for brunch. If he keeps batting like this, maybe he should set up a weekly visit to the restaurant for the rest of the season.

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Kohli's been pushing his partner for regular twos even as Mahipal Lomror was slow to start off. But the left-hand batter has smacked Sunil Narine for two sixes in one over to ensure RCB are in touch of the chase in terms of run rate. This year, Narine is going at 8.7 per over. Never before in the IPL has he gone for even eight per over previously.

That means Suyash Sharma is back for another spell. RCB 97/3 in 10 overs

Ravi Shastri goes "he lives by the sword, he dies by the sword" as Glenn Maxwell follows up a boundary with a catch at mid-off. Varun Chakravarthy slowed his delivery down and Maxwell failed to clear the infield. RCB 58/3 in six overs which allows KKR to use pace again for a few overs. Dre Russ to start his spell.

Stat alert: That's the third time in five innings that VC has dismissed GM.

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Virat Kohli's hitting got the crowd going.

He's been running hard between the wickets and otherwise has pumped five fours in his first 15 deliveries. Got a tad lucky with a flat-batted shot to long on that another day would've been out. But his quick-off-the-blocks start has helped.

However, mystery spinner Suyash Sharma quietens the crowd as he traps Shahbaz Ahmed lbw. The silence is short-lived though. The fans comes alive as soon as they realise Glenn Maxwell is in next.

Kohli pumps 12 off six. Faf du Plessis hammers 17 off six. And that means Nitish Rana has to go to spin - Suyash Sharma - early.

Suyash is a big turner of the ball, and the wrong'un from him gets Faf out on the straight boundary. He's out for 17 off seven balls and RCB are 31/1 in 2.2 overs

Its also one of those rare occasions where Impact Player dismisses Impact Player.

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ALSO READ: How Suyash Sharma joined KKR's magical mystery spin tour

According to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, the two chances given to Nitish Rana, in the 13th (Dropped by Siraj off Vyshak) and 15th overs (dropped by Harshal off Siraj) cost RCB 16 and 13 runs respectively.

The first chance came when Rana had made just 5 off 5, and the second when he had 19 off 12. He ended up scoring 48 off 21, which means he got 43 off 16 after the first chance, and 29 off 9 after the second (including the ball off which he was dropped).

Can the RCB batters make up for those lapses in the field?

The average first-innings score has been 194 here this season. The average first-innings winning score has been 196. KKR's total of 200 is right in that territory. Score could've been more but Harshal bowled 4 good balls. The two poor ones went for 12.

Fifteen off the final over with Wiese hitting two sixes in three deliveries. He's made a case for batting higher up next game onwards. For now, KKR have the momentum going into the break, and ESPNcricinfo's forecaster makes them 83% favourites.

But cricket is not played on MS Excel sheets. So RCB will back themselves to chase this down. How they play spin tonight will be exciting to see.

Sidharth Monga sums up the innings perfectly: "An innings of thirds. Great powerplay, slow middle overs, and then 69 off the last five. Blinders from roy and Rana. And then cameos from Rinku and Wiese. Hasaranga and Siraj were superb with the ball, Vyshak bowled smartly, and Siraj has the purple cap back."

Rinku Singh has walked in late, but gets off the blocks rather quickly. Just what KKR needed.

First he pumped a six and then utilised the wide-line from Siraj to hit two more fours behind point. Such was the over that even though Siraj dismissed Russell with a beautiful yorker, the over belonged to KKR.

KKR 185 for 5 in 19 overs. Rinku on strike for the final over.

Iyer finally falls, out for 31 in 26 balls. But with Russell, Rinku and D Wiese warming the benches for so long, was there a case for Iyer to be retired out tonight? I, for one, definitely feel KKR will end up under-utilising their powerful middle and lower-middle order tonight.

Hasaranga meanwhile finishes with 2-24, removing both the left-handers in the same over.

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He survived two possible dismissals that were dropped, but after that, Rana decided to go for it. He ruined Harshal's overall spell with 4, 6, 6 in one over. Then drilled Vyshak for 4, 4, 6. And even though he falls to Hasaranga trying the reverse sweep, he has held up his end of the bargain. Falls for 48 in 21 balls, just what KKR needed with Venkatesh Iyer a bit sluggish tonight.

Andre Russell walks in with 16 balls to go. KKR 168/3 in 17.2 overs

The two left-handers have been alternating between boundaries and singles but they'd want more hits to the fence given the historical numbers this ground has. Their partnership of 38 in four overs have been based around minimising dots while going hard. But RCB's field placing is fairly spot on, ensuring its mostly singles that the two batters are getting.

Vyshak could've had a third wicket but Siraj dropped Rana at long off. Time now for Siraj to make amends with him returning for his second spell. He's still wicketless.

RCB wanted wickets. And they've got two in one over thanks to the fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak.

This is the stuff of dreams for the Karnataka bowler who actually lives in Bengaluru. The crowd's gone crazy for him as he picks up Jagadeesan with a short ball and Roy with a yorker. Both openers gone and once again KKR will have to regroup with two new batters Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana out there.

Roy looked disappointed and frustrated in equal parts with the slowdown after the powerplay. His only dealt in singles in his last nine balls before falling for 56 in 29.

The last four overs have gone for 22/2. KKR 88/2 in 10. RCB with the momentum.

Roy's traveling like a Japanese bullet train. Jagadeesan is chugging along like an Indian mail train. That's making RCB bowl in such a way that Jagadeesan stays on strike. Hasaranga and Harshal Patel have been successfully doing that after the powerplay. This isn't what KKR want.

Only 16 scored in the three overs after the powerplay with Jagadeesan facing 12 of those 18 balls.

We love a good stat. And this powerplay has provided it.

It is KKR's best powerplay performance of IPL 2023.

It is RCB's worst powerplay performance of IPL 2023.

Jason Roy has pumped four sixes in the sixth over bowled by Shahbaz Ahmed, in addition to one more sixes and four more fours. That's taken him to 48 in 20 balls. This is what KKR wanted from the 11 openers they have tried since IPL 2022.

His bashing of the pacers - and now Shahbaz - have put KKR in front after the powerplay. The pitch is good for batting, the boundaries are short, and Roy is a strong man. Perfect recipe for a big Roy total. Now to see how he does once the field spreads out. Jagadeesan, meanwhile, has been more circumspect, hitting three fours in his 17 runs off 16 balls.

Here's how the Shahbaz over went down ⏬

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The last time Willey faced KKR, he picked off two wickets with two beautiful deliveries in Kolkata that rocked them in his first over. Today, he goes for 17 in his second over, allowing KKR to consolidate their (rare) strong opening start. KKR's first wicket partnership had added only 86 runs in seven games coming into the contest. Today they've picked off 35 in four overs with Roy batting freely and Jagadeesan trying his best to match the English opener. About time their openers came good.

Before Willey's expensive over, Siraj bowled penetrative lines but Roy was successful in playing him. A rarity that Siraj didn't get a wicket in his first spell, even though there was one very close LBW call off Roy.

On comes Hasaranga inside the powerplay with KKR 35/0 in four overs

Some things to keep an eye on in the 1st innings:

- Can RCB's new-ball bowlers produce another terrific outing? In seven games, their bowlers have taken 18 powerplay wickets, significantly more than the team in second place (12). Mohammed Siraj with seven scalps is the highest powerplay wicket-taker in IPL 2023 with an economy of only 4.9 and strike-rate of 13.9. David Willey (4.7) and Mohammed Siraj have the best and second best economy in powerplay this season respectively. Up against them is KKR's opening pair that has the worst average (12.3) and strike-rate (119) this season.

- Middle-overs battle: One positive for KKR is how good their batting has been between overs 7-15. RCB, on the other hand, have a big problem in that period, conceding 10.1 runs per over, the worst economy among all teams. Wanindu Hasaranga in particular has been expensive (econ 10.2) in that period.

- Can RCB's spinners be tidy? Their spinners have conceded 10.4 per over, the worst among all teams. They've conceded 32.6 runs per wicket.

- Can Venkatesh Iyer break his RCB jinx? He's been KKR's highest-scoring batter even though he's been inconsistent. Against RCB in particular, he has poor match-ups. He scores at less than a run a ball against Willey (strike rate 50), Harshal Patel (75) and Siraj (77).

RCB will chase first, RCB captain Kohli says. He calls his powerplay bowling "unbelievable" and hopes to put KKR under pressure early on. Says Faf du Plessis will play the impact role again and should lead from the next game onwards.

Nitish Rana interestingly says KKR would've batted first. He says the second half is starting so this game is important. Wants the side to play good cricket "collectively." Mentions there's a change with Vaibhav Arora replacing Kulwant Khejroliya.

NOTE: This is the same pitch where RCB played CSK. 444 runs were scored that day.

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