IPL 2020 | SRH vs RR: Tewatia-Parag step up to end Royals' losing streak

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli reveals the 'one change' that helped regain his form

Virat Kohli returned to his elements against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday night in Dubai. An unbeaten 90* from the skipper helped Royal Challengers Bangalore register a resounding win over MS Dhoni and Co. Kohli played the big shots and ran hard between the wickets. A 76-run stand with Shivam Dube took Bangalore 169 - a total which looked uncertain after they were restricted to 93/4 at one stage. The 31-year-old didn’t have the best of starts in IPL 2020. Kohli could manage scores of 14, 1 and 3 in his first three outings but struck a fifty against the Royals before scoring 43 against Delhi. His latest knock will not only keep him in a good state of mind but it will be a big boost for RCB, who are at the fourth spot with eight points. He said putting pressure on himself didn’t help him perform. Hitting the winning runs against KXIP in the Super Over helped him to a great extent, according to the skipper. “It’s about understanding the conditions and respecting the game, instead of trying to hit every ball into the second tier of the stadium,” Kohli after his side’s 37-run win over CSK. “Having played so much cricket, especially T20 cricket, I have learnt that if you are set at death, you can capitalize. Before that, I was trying to do too much. If you think too much about responsibility, you get burdened. That Super Over where I had to strike, else we would have lost, freed me up. Training all these days also helped.” he added.

IPL 2020: Spinner Sunil Narine reported for suspect bowling action

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine’s bowling action is under scanner yet again. The Windies cricketer has been reported for suspect bowling action post Knight Riders’ clash with Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Narine returned with figures of 2/28 and defended 14 runs in the last over to help his side snatch an unlikely win by 2 runs. The on-field umpires reported Narine’s action yesterday. "Narine will be placed on the warning list and is permitted to continue to bowl in the tournament," the IPL said. It has also been stated that another report will eventually get Narine suspended from the league until he is cleared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's suspect bowling action committee. The mystery spinner was instrumental in KKR winning two trophies in the money-spinning league. He bagged 24 and 21 wickets in the 2012 and 2014 season respectively, hence becoming a vital cog in the team’s set-up. The Knights are currently at the third place in the points table, having picked eight points in six games. KXIP, on the other hand, find themselves at the bottom with six losses in seven outings. KKR’s next game is against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.

IPL 2020 | RCB vs CSK: 3 Reasons Why Virat Kohli-led Bangalore beat Chennai by 37 runs

The Indian Premier League 2020 has almost wrapped up its fourth week and while the tournament has been the most unpredictable in years, several strong patterns have emerged in the course of the 25 matches it has played. While some may be more significant than others, but nothing has come as a bigger shock than the Chennai Super Kings failing to grab any ground in the tournament with courtesy their awful batting display. CSK batting has been so inconsistent that after winning their 4th match against Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets (chasing 179) they crumbled in their next one against Kolkata Knight Riders, failing to chase a paltry target of 168 runs. The story was scripted along the similar lines on Saturday, 10 October against the Royal Challengers Bangalore when Chennai batting line-up looked lost of ideas, a painful thing to watch for any CSK faithful who has basked in the glory of this champion team for over a decade. On that note, here are the three reasons why Chennai Super Kings lost by 37 runs chasing a 170-run target against Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore. Virat Kohli There are few things to watch in world cricket than Virat Kohli in full flow. Wait, scratch that, there is nothing better in cricket than watching Kohli bat in full control of his entire arsenal. Coming into bat in the third over after Aaron Finch’s weakness against inswingers were once again exposed by a nippy Deepak Chahar, Kohli took control of the stage. In an innings that had so many facets, Virat Kohli oozed class and gave a masterclass in balance, shot selection, maximising output and running between the wickets. If this was not enough, the impeccably paced innings, pulled Royal Challengers right out of trouble in the final overs of the game while Chennai players looked like they had no clue what hit them. From 95/4 in 15 overs, Kohli’s acceleration propelled RCB to 169/4 at the end of 20 overs, with the King himself remaining not out at 90 off just 52 balls at a mammoth strike rate of 173.08. Chris Morris What a way to introduce yourself to your new franchise. After being out of the action for a side strain, Morris ran through the Chennai lower order picking up three crucial wickets of Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. Used strategically throughout the innings by Virat Kohli, Morris opened the bowling for the franchise but was taken off after his first over, despite giving away just four runs. He was brought back int the 10th over where he troubled debutant Narayan Jagadeesan with his pace and bounce of the pitch. He returned to bowl the 17th and the 19th over picking up three wickets in quick succession off just 19 runs in his four overs. Above all, Morris’ inclusion in the Bangalore side made the team look more complete than it was before. When RCB aggressively bid for Morris in the auction last year, it was clear that Mike Hesson had plans for the big man and RCB would be super stoked that it came through in the first match itself. Morris never looked out of place in the line-up and delivered from ball one. He could be a huge game-changer for Bangalore if he stays fit throughout the tournament. CSK batting intent Nothing can be added to what already has been said about the ageing batting line-up. MS Dhoni in the last night’s press conference spoke about the need to fix the batting department and the fact that it was time to change the approach. “…our main worry remains the batting department. In the coming games, we'll try to be more expressive.” Dhoni said. Acknowledging that there are too many holes in the ship to plug Dhoni said that they might try playing the other way around in the final overs. “Batting has been a bit of a worry and today also it was evident. We need to do something about it. I think we are better off playing the other way round, playing the bigger shots even if you get out. That is something we can do in the coming games.” Dhoni added. Chennai Super Kings are in deep, deep trouble after losing their game against RCB and have to find out answers to their myriad of problems soon. A mid-season transfer could be an option for them, but that comes with its own problems. Bangalore, on the other hand, looked good with the inclusion of Chris Morris and do not have a reason not to play the same XI in the exciting next game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, 12 October.

IPL 2020 | RCB vs CSK: Kohli 90 steers Bangalore to biggest win over arch-rivals Chennai

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 169/4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 90*, Devdutt Padikkal 33; Shardul Thakur 2/40) beat Chennai Super Kings 132/8 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 42, Narayan Jagadeesan 33; Chris Morris 3/19) by 37 runs. Chennai Super Kings once again turned a deaf ear to the gospel of proactivity, leaving yet another chase for too late to gift Royal Challengers Bangalore a duck-soup 37-run victory in the 25th match of the Indian Premier League. Chris Morris, on season debut, chalked figures of 3/19 to unplug the ventilator off CSK's vigil after Virat Kohli's scintillating 90* empowered RCB to a defiant 169/4 on Saturday, October 10 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. CSK rearrange the deckchairs for little incentive Kedar Jadhav copped a heap of flak after his blockathon against Kolkata Knight Riders, and the management did show guts to scratch his name from the team sheet, drafting in the fresh legs of Narayan Jagadeesan. For RCB, Morris' much-anticipated debut came at the expense of Moeen Ali while Gurkeerat Singh Mann got the captain's vote ahead of Mohammed Siraj, which was a tough pill to swallow given the paceman arrested two wickets at a satisfactory economy of 8.5 in his previous outing against Delhi Capitals. Washi witchcraft leaves CSK trodding water The jet black clouds of scrutiny have perpetually hovered above RCB's defensive aptitude. Although Faf du Plessis' and Shane Watson's cheap departures granted them a rocket launch. The destruction agent? None other than Washington Sundar, who's PowerPlay exploits have proved time and again that he's worth a king's ransom. Du Plessis lived on the edge as a couple of miscues fell into no man's land before eventually skirting one down mid-wicket's throat. Watson's dismissal was the last straw of the pressure RCB applied from both ends, with a grubber breaching through his rush-of-blood swipe. Slothful CSK dig their own grave Ambati Rayudu and Narayan Jagadeesan's 64-run collaboration screamed dearth of intent as CSK's riposte went pear-shaped. Let alone pulling out the big hits from their kitty, the duo ambled between the wickets with the enthusiasm of a lumberjack axing trees. Chris Morris finally injected a speck of zeal into the contest, nailing bullseye from mid-off to remove a lax Jagadeesan for 33. MS Dhoni shelved his tried-and-tested modus operandi of dragging the game deep only to witness the punt backfire, with an unbalanced swat finding long-off to precision. Ambati Rayudu couldn't wake up from his slumber even till the demand grew to 61 off 18 balls, and his fruitless travails ultimately ceased via an adventurous ramp off Isuru Udana on 42. Sam Curran was bounced out by Chris Morris while Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja didn't have any choice but to throw their bats around as RCB procured the bragging rights for until the next match in this fiercely-contested rivalry. Finch proving a necessary evil for RCB Earlier, Deepak Chahar exploited the can of worms that is Aaron Finch's batting technique. He laid the trap by serving a plethora of wide tempters as the scrappy right-hander kept fishing to no avail with zilch footwork. Every cricket fanatic in the universe knew the inswinger was on the cards, of course including Finch, yet the cookie crumbled. An obnoxious hoick down the ground followed as the stumps went for a spin to leave RCB in an early jitter. Devdutt Padikkal stitched a fifty-run stand with Virat Kohli to paddle their boat, but Shardul Thakur's double whammy yielded another stumbling block. While the youngster jerked a loft to mid-off, AB de Villiers perished nicking behind for a golden duck. King Kohli leads from the front Washington Sundar edged a faint nick in a bid to carve Sam Curran over point, albeit the flurry of wickets hardly impacted RCB as Kohli broke the shackles. He swivel-pulled Thakur to notch his half-century before whipping two eloquent sixes off Curran to lend the red jerseys a head of steam. Shivam Dubey played second fiddle, trading singles while managing to crack the odd boundary after being reprieved by Jagadeesan at long-on. Though Kohli was in a league of his own. He shimmied down the track and maintained a still frame to bludgeon Thakur clean as a whistle over long-on. Having premeditated a tramline yorker, he manoeuvred across the crease to unfurl an atypical lap-sweep off Dwayne Bravo as RCB pillaged 52 from the final three en route the unbeaten 76-run association. You can always get drunk on superlatives and wax lyrical about Kohli's epic finish, but none escaping the fact that CSK's death operators aided a fair bit in his jazzy domination. What's next in store? Sitting pretty with eight points in six games, RCB locomote to Sharjah's pea-sized venue where they collide against Kolkata Knight Riders, who performed a Houdini act earlier in the day versus Kings XI Punjab, on Monday, October 12. A lethargic middle-order stinging their flesh, CSK should focus on expressing themselves a lot more in their next tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, October 13.