IPL 2021 | CSK vs RR: Super Kings, Royals searching consistency after confidence-lifting wins

IPL 2021 | DC vs PBKS: Hits and Flops as DC stroll to six wicket victory

It proved to be a relatively easy run-chase for the Delhi Capitals as they won the 11th encounter of Vivo IPL 14 by 6 wickets to go second in the points table. The Punjab Kings bowlers were all over the place and never managed to hold their nerves against a brilliant knock from Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw continued his stunning run in the IPL and his knock of 91 eventually proved to be the game-changer. Chasing a target of 196 was not going to be an easy task. DC required a flying start and that was provided by Prithvi Shaw and from there on it was Shikhar Dhawan who took the onus on himself to do the job for his team. Despite his dismissal towards the fag end of the match, Marcu Stoinis held his nerves and made sure DC reach the target with 10 deliveries to spare. Rishabh Pant’s decision to bowl first worked perfectly despite DC not being at their best. When your team is winning despite not performing to their best means the team is in really good stead and they have match-winners in their ranks. The 17th over from Mohammed Shami totally tilted the scales in favour of DC as he bowled two no-balls which cost Punjab dearly. After batting first, the Punjab Kings got off to a blazing start courtesy Mayank Agarwal. He had a disdainful approach against all the DC bowlers and while his partner Rahul was not looking at his fluent best, Mayank kept pounding the agony on the DC bowlers. His whirlwind knock of 67 of 36 deliveries included some delightful shots and set the tone for Punjab. KL Rahul could only muster 61 of 51 deliveries where he should have atleast scored 15 more facing that many deliveries. Towards the fag end of the innings, it was Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan who gave a much-needed impetus which eventually got them to a score of 195. The position they were in, a score of 220 was always on the cards but some fine bowling by the DC bowlers prevented them from going past the 200 mark. Hits Mayank Agarwal Despite their defeat, Punjab Kings will gain heart from the fact that Mayank Agarwal played a stunning knock. He could have proved to be the game-changer had Punjab finished off well with the bat and had the bowlers held their nerves in crucial junctures. Agarwal was dropped from the Indian Test XI in Australia after two poor outings. His technique was questioned by the pundits and he needed to prove his worth in any team he plays. After having a sensational season with the bat last season, Mayank Agarwal finally made his presence felt in the 11th encounter of the competition. After being put in to bat, Punjab Kings got off to a flying start on the back of a special knock from Mayank Agarwal. He was quite magnificent in his strokeplay and some of his shots especially against the likes of Kagiso Rabada oozed class and confidence. His knock of 69 came in a mere 36 deliveries and was laced with 7 hits to the fence and four sixes. He was never troubled by any of the bowlers and looked like playing on a different pitch in comparison with Rahul. After a partnership of 122 runs in the 13th over, Mayank Agarwal had to depart but the start which he gave set the tone perfectly. However, Punjab Kings couldn’t capitalise and could only muster 195 at the end of their allotted 20 overs. Shikhar Dhawan Dhawan is making a strong case for himself for a comeback in the T20 national squad. The southpaw after having a sensational time with the bat in 2020 is now carrying on the rich vein of form even in this tournament. After some impressive knocks in the first two encounters, Dhawan finally made a match-winning impact as DC chased the stiff target of 196 down with 10 deliveries to spare. Chasing a target close of 200 is never easy in T20 cricket and for that to materialise, DC needed to get off to a brisk yet steady start. Both Prithvi Shaw and Dhawan looked in sublime touch as DC got off to a flying start. Shaw blazed his way to 32 of a mere 17 deliveries and the start proved to be just what the doctor had ordered for the Capitals. Dhawan never looked in any discomfort what so ever. His ferocious cuts and pulls consistently came from the centre of the bat and the Punjab Kings bowlers failed to contain the super knock from the southpaw. The last few innings have seen a huge array of shots from Dhawan and today was no different. Quite often Dhawan moved across the off stump and played the field to perfection and helped it around the fine leg region for boundaries. He never bludgeoned his way during his knock of 91 and played proper cricketing shots. Eventually, the shot which yielded him runs brought about his downfall as Jhye Richardson managed to sneak through his defence and disturb the timbers. Marcus Stoinis The Australian all-rounder turned out to be a utility player for the Capitals last season and once again he proved his worth as a finisher with a breezy knock of 27 of just 12 deliveries. It was a difficult pick especially given the fact Prithvi Shaw also played an important knock but in the end, Stoinis’ knock proved to be just a bit more impactful. When Shikhar Dhawan departed at the score of 152, Delhi Capitals still needed 44 more to win from 31 deliveries. Things could have got a bit tricky had Marcus Stoinis not stepped in. He was helped by some loose deliveries which he made full use of and in the end helped the Capitals chase the target down with 10 deliveries left. Stoinis stuck into Mohammed Shami in the 17th over where the fast bowler bowled two no-balls and Stoinis made full use of both the no-balls and the free hits. 19 runs came from that over and that was the final nail in the coffin for the Punjab Kings. Stonis eventually remained unbeaten on 27 of just 12 deliveries which included three fours and a six and got DC over the finishing line in the penultimate over. Flops KL Rahul It was not a straightforward pick to be honest but given how the match panned out, it is a fair assumption to include KL Rahul as a flop in the match. Despite scoring yet another half-century, Rahul’s knock lacked intent and eventually cost his team. Even last year, Rahul played the role of a sheet-anchor for Punjab and despite finishing as the leading run-getter of the tournament last year his strike rate was questionable at times. Even in this encounter against the Capitals, Rahul was not at his fluent best. Despite Mayank Agarwal getting off to a blazing start, Rahul could never get the boundaries on a consistent basis as Punjab Kings failed to capitalise on the start provided by the former. In T20 cricket, a set batsman should always get the job done for his team. Scoring 61 of 51 deliveries is just not good enough in the modern context of the game. A strike rate of 119 till the 51st delivery can only be justified if you press on the accelerator in the final few overs and get your side to a big total. But with Rahul that wasn’t the case as he perished after occupying the crease till the 16th over. He was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in a bid to play a big shot. Mohammed Shami He is one of the finest fast bowlers from the current crop of Indian pacers but Shami will surely want to forget this day. The speedster had a torrid time as he was smashed all around the park by the Delhi Capitals batsmen. Right from the word go, Shami faltered in his line and lengths and was taken apart by both Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. While he conceded 11 runs in his opening over, it was followed by a 14 runs over where Dhawan took him to the cleaners. He was brought back for the 14th over and that was the only over which proved to be tidy. He conceded just 8 runs and the captain trusted him by giving him the 17th over. However, he couldn’t justify his captain’s call and ended up conceding 19 runs which included two no-balls. Marcus Stoinis took him to the cleaners making full use of the freebies offered by Shami. Eventually, Shami ended up conceding 53 runs in his 4 overs spell. He also made a meal of a difficult catch in the 18th over and never looked in good space of mind. He needs to get his act right and come back stronger in the next encounter.

IPL 2021: What Experts said as DC makes light work of a stiff target

It proved to be a rather easy run-chase for the Delhi Capitals as they made light work of a stiff target of 196 and strolled home by 6 wickets and with 10 deliveries to spare. Riding on a sensational knock from Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi Capitals never felt threatened by the big total and eventually coasted to the target. After a hiccup in the previous game, the Rishabh Pant led DC are well back on course. Chasing a target of 196 was going to be a tricky ask for the star-studded DC batting line-up. However at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, we have witnessed some big targets being chased down and it was no different today. Prithvi Shaw continued his purple patch and got his team off to a flying start in the powerplay. That set the tone for the rest of the innings and Shikhar Dhawan then took the onus on himself after Shaw’s dismissal. Dhawan was quite exceptional in his strokeplay and never allowed the Punjab Kings bowlers to get back in the game. The southpaw flayed his way to a 91 before perishing of a brilliant Jhye Richardson slower delivery. However, by then, the job was almost done. He never allowed the required rate to go up and found the boundaries on a consistent basis. Despite his dismissal, the Punjab Kings didn’t manage to sneak through. A horrible 17th over by Mohammed Shami totally tilted the scales in favour of the Capitals and there was no way back from there. Marcus Stoinis justified his position as a finisher and blazed his way to 27 of 12 deliveries. Some of them were freebies to be honest but still, you have to hit those. Eventually, a boundary from Lalit Yadav finished off proceedings with 10 deliveries left. Earlier in the day, it was Rishabh Pant who won the toss and opted to field. Punjab Kings blazed away to a rollicking start courtesy a sublime opening stand between Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. Mayank Agarwal smashed his way to a breezy knock of 67 which came in just 36 deliveries. However his partner KL Rahul wasn’t at his fluent best and his strike-rate concerns from the previous seasons still linger. He scored 6 of 51 deliveries and just when his team needed him the most departed in an attempt to hit the big shot. Run scoring is important but the impact is more important and KL Rahul should look to find a way to get it right. Deepak Hooda smashed a few lusty blows towards the end and eventually the designated finisher, Shahrukh Khan did finish well as he remained unbeaten on 15 of just 5 deliveries. However, a substantial score of 195 didn’t prove to be enough in the end. Captain’s Viewpoints Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul, the birthday boy was disappointed that he couldn’t get a victory on his birthday. However, he sounded optimistic with the fact that there are several games left and they can still make a comeback. He felt that a score of 180-190 would have been a difficult one to chase down but he lamented the fact that Dhawan made full use of the dew which backtracked the Punjab Kings bowlers. “Victory would've been sweet on my birthday. Slightly disappointing but we've still got a lot of games left. In the end, when you look at it, it does look 10-15 short. But I felt batting in the middle 196 was really good. In the first half, Mayank and I were saying the same, that we'd be good if we got 180-190. But obviously, at Wankhede, there's dew and credit to Dhawan. Dew did sway things, bowling second's always a challenge at Wankhede,” Rahul said. However, he said that the team prepares for such a situation but it really gets difficult against a quality batting line-up. “It does get difficult against these quality batters. I'm not saying that because I'm on the losing side. Bowlers try to bowl with the wet ball, but it's always difficult to do that. I asked the umpires to change the ball a couple of times (as it was wet), but the rule book doesn't allow that,” Rahul added. Meanwhile DC captain Rishabh Pant sounded confident after the victory and said that he has already started enjoying the captaincy tenure despite being under pressure for some part of the game. “I've already started enjoying the captaincy but we were under pressure at the start because the wicket was not doing much and they had a good start. Good job by our bowlers to keep them to 190,” Pant said. Pant also lauded the efforts of Shikhar Dhawan who has been an integral part of the DC outfit in the last few years. He was stunning at UAE and he is continuing his rich vein of form in IPL even this year. “There are many things you can talk to with Shikhar but at the end of the day what he's given to the team is commendable. I like to keep the environment light so that people enjoy their cricket and make the most of their opportunities,” Pant added. Experts Viewpoints Regarded as the Voice of Cricket, Harsha Bhogle was delighted to see Shikhar Dhawan take his game to a whole new level. The southpaw never bludgeoned his way to a 91 but played proper cricketing shots maintaining a wonderful strike rate. Meanwhile, he also added that Punjab has to find ways to defend big totals. Referring to the match against Rajasthan Royals where they sneaked through in a last ball-thriller, Bhogle said that the dew was not the only factor that resulted in the Punjab Kings going down yet again.

IPL 2021 | RCB vs KKR: Hits and Flops as RCB continue winning streak

It’s been 13 years since the cricket carnival named Indian Premier League was introduced. And if pundits are to be believed a cricket tournament of this stature had the perfect beginning. Royal Challengers Bangalore were up against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru. Brendon McCullum was on some rampage as if he had a tiff with someone before coming out to bat. He was hammering the RCB bowlers all around the park and went on to score a fine ton. Cut to 2021. McCullum who had been a part of RCB in earlier editions is back with KKR in their coaching staff. New players have emerged over the next decade and a half in Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Andre Russell, but not a lot has changed in 13 years. Because this day is known for slaughtering bowling attacks and it hasn’t changed yet. The only tweak that was witnessed on Sunday afternoon was the change in the receiving ends. While in 2008, it was RCB bowlers who suffered some hammering from McCullum, in 2021, it was the former Blackcaps captain’s side KKR that was being hit all around the park. The Royal Challengers Bangalore are simply unstoppable at the moment. They have won three out of the three matches that they played in this IPL 2021 so far and are sitting at the helm in the points table. To add to the delight of their fans, the margins of RCB’s wins have got better with every game. In the latest additions to RCB’s positives, captain Virat Kohli won the toss, finally. Ok, that actually happened. Facing Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, RCB had the toss in their favour and skipper Kohli opted to bat first on a track that had a little better to offer to the batsmen on Sunday. But KKR captain Eoin Morgan certainly had a plan B if he was asked to bowl first. He straight away got his spinners into the act and it did work out for the Kolkata-based franchise. Varun Chakravarthy removed Kohli for 5 off 6 and then cleaned up Rajat Patidar who came in at number 3 for 1 in the same over to reduce RCB to 9/2. While everyone thought RCB was on backfoot, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers had some other plans in their minds. Well, not ruining the fun here let's have a look at this edition of Hits and Flops. Hits Glenn Maxwell Well, the RCB fans were left astonished when the Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell fetched a sum of Rs. 14.5 Cr in the mini auctions earlier this year. Of course, his previous IPL records say a lot about his forgettable journey in the cash-rich league. Adding to the frustration was Mike Hesson’s delight in getting Maxwell in the team. But somehow and somewhere Maxwell is proving his worth in this competition. There is a meme that went viral a few days back that when a player leaves IPL, he starts performing but for Maxwell, the story is a bit different. The scores of 39, 59 and 78 speak volumes about how he has just turned the fortunes for the Bangalore-based franchise and how the aggressive right-handed batsman has brought that “balance” in the team that Kohli had been talking about for a very long time. On Sunday, the Australian repeated a similar script but with more precision. RCB were 9/2 at the end of the second over when Maxwell walked in the middle to bat. Chakravarthy had removed Kohli and Patidar early in the innings. While the RCB captain had to walk back in the hut, courtesy, a fine piece of fielding from Rahul Tripathi who took a blinder while running back. Tripathi who was stationed in the cover region ran towards the boundary and grabbed a stunning diving catch to send Kohli packing. Later, Patidar was castled by the spinner after the right-hander failed to read the line and the ball just went past him to disturb the woodwork behind. Maxwell began the proceedings in a cautious manner as a wicket here and there would have created more pressure on RCB. While Maxwell stood strong at one end, his batting partner Devdutt Padikkal too looked good and steady in the middle. The two stitched a stand of 86 runs before the left-handed Padikkal had to depart for a well-compiled 25 off 28 after miscuing a pull shot off Prasidh Krishna. Tripathi who was this time stationed in the deep took his second catch of the match to dismiss Padikkal. But the left-handed batsman’s departure didn’t really affect Maxwell’s plans. He was already up for an onslaught and it showed. The Aussie cricketer unleashed another display of power-hitting. Maxwell struck 78 off 49 that included three maximums and 9 boundaries and it felt as if he was in no mood of getting runs in singles and doubles. While he had a responsible stand with Devdutt, Maxwell also put up a brilliant and brisk partnership of 53 off 35 with ABD before getting out Pat Cummins after getting caught by Harbhajan Singh. Well, Maxwell might have missed out on scoring some more runs but the way he batted especially against the bowlers who had created some problems for the team in the earlier part of the match was just impeccable. More than his runs was his zeal to dominate the KKR bowling unit and that showed. AB de Villiers How many of you have played EA Sports Cricket? And how many of you have just smacked the opponent bowlers all around the park? While as kids, we have gone berserk about our batting in a video game, we still have a batsman who bats as if we are watching a video game. AB de Villiers is the name. Every time ABD bats to his calibre, you fall short of words to describe his innings. It’s been just three games in this edition of the IPL and the former South African has already unfolded a couple of knocks that are at par. On Sunday, de Villiers was one of the two batsmen from the RCB franchise who was definitely playing on a different track. He once again hammered the KKR bowlers all around the ground scoring an unbeaten 76 off 34. The 200-mark looked pretty tough at one moment when Maxwell departed at the end of the 17th over while the team score read 148/4. But what followed next was “nothing new”. ABD has done that previously and he repeated that again. From 148/4, de Villiers took RCB’s score to 204/4 in the last three overs. It is usually said that a batsman targets one or a couple of bowlers to score his runs and he probably had set his eye against Andre Russell. Russell came into the attack at the death. He bowled the 18th and the 20 overs and was hammered for 38 runs in two overs. There came a time when Russell was under so much pressure that it was visible and evident that he had no idea about what line and length he should bowl in front of ABD. The right-handed batsman’s knock included three sixes and 9 boundaries. Harshal Patel It seems as if RCB have done no wrong in picking players in this edition. Harshal Patel was one of the two players apart from Daniel Sams to join RCB after he was traded from Delhi Capitals. The youngster has proven his worth first against the Mumbai Indians where he picked up a five-wicket haul and then with economical bowling against Sunrisers Hyderabad and now vs Kolkata Knight Riders. A track that had something for the batsmen on Sunday, Patel showed his skills with the ball and returned with impressive figures of 2/17 in 4 overs. More than his figures was Harshal’s intelligent piece of bowling. A player is an asset to a team when knows his strengths more than his weaknesses and the right-arm bowler is probably a cricketer of similar sorts. Harshal bowled at perfect lengths and resisted the run flow that could have turned the fortunes for them. He didn’t let the batsmen cut loose with his Yorker length deliveries while also deceived them with the pace at some point in time. Consistency has what Harshal has maintained in this IPL 2021 and if he continues to bowl like this, it would be a great boost for the RCB especially looking at their past records. Patel can be one bowler who can be useful for the side in the beginning as well as in the death overs. Flops Andre Russell There is another popular saying about cricket. This game is cruel. On one day it can make a player a hero and on the other that particular player might emerge to be the reason for a team’s defeat. West Indies and KKR all-rounder Andre Russell is certainly falling in this tally for now. While he was just spectacular with the ball against Mumbai Indians, Russell was hammered by AB de Villiers on Sunday in Chennai to return with figures of 0/38 in overs. There came a time in his spell that he let go of a run out at the bowling end. His gesture defined the kind of frustration that Russell was having with his bowling. But was it just about Russell’s clueless bowling or there was something more to it? A new Andre Russell or rather the “bowler” Andre Russell introduced a new technique against the aggressive batsmen while he was up against MI. He bowled wide yorkers around the fourth and fifth stump channel and bowled coming around the wicket against the right-handers. He did try to bowl similar kind of line and lengths to ABD but it seemed as if the RCB batsman had done his homework well. De Villiers had all the answers to the deliveries that had fetched Russell wickets against MI. Those wide yorkers were struck through the covers while the ones angled into the stumps were dispatched straight back past the bowler. While the West Indies all-rounder struggled with the ball, he showed glimpses of his talent with the bat. The right-hander came in at number 7 while KKR were struggling at 114/5. The Caribbean batsman started off the innings in a steady manner and then targeted Yuzevndra Chahal to gather a few runs off his over. Russell and Shakib gathered 17 runs from the Chahal’s over to get their side back on track a bit. But Shakib’s departure left the onus totally on Russell. The aggressive batsman then made a blunder in the penultimate over. KKR needed 44 off the last 2 overs with Russell and Harbhajan Singh in the middle. Russell failed to score any boundaries in this over while didn’t score runs by running singles and doubles to create more pressure on himself. KKR eventually managed just one run in the 19th over while Russell departed on the first ball of the 20th for 31 off 20 balls. While he failed to keep the opponent batsmen silent, Russell also had a forgettable time with the bat in the later stage of the match. Kyle Jamieson All-rounder Kyle Jamieson was another shocking and expensive pick that was made by the RCB in the auctions. The right-hander hasn’t really lived up to the mark and the money he got. Though he has been picking up wickets consistently, Jamieson hasn’t had a great match so far in the tournament. On Sunday, he did manage to scalp three wickets against KKR but the economy rate with which he bowled was nothing but atrocious. The fast bowler missed the trick that as much pace as he would generate, it would be helpful for the batsmen to score runs off his bowling. An instance of this was visible in the starting of the chase when Shubman Gill hammered Jamieson all around. It was Gill’s hard luck and some brilliance in the field by Dan Christian who caught him at the mid-on region after putting in a perfect dive towards his right. Jamieson was smashed for 41 runs in his three overs but he returned with a three-for. There haven’t been many of loopholes in the RCB unit except for a couple of bowlers who have been leaking runs now. On the other side, Morgan’s KKR have to rejig a lot of plans to get themselves back on track.

IPL 2021 | RCB vs KKR - What Experts Said as RCB coast to a convincing victory

Royal Challengers Bangalore continued their winning juggernaut in Vivo IPL 2021 as they won their third straight match of the competition beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th match of the tournament by 36 runs. It was a brilliant all-round show by RCB right from the toss when Virat Kohli didn’t have any hesitations batting first after winning the toss. The target of 205 was always going to be a huge ask for the Kolkata Knight Riders. They needed a flying start and that was provided by Shubman Gill. He literally smashed his way to 21 before pershing in an attempt to find the boundary once again. Rahul Tripathi began with a boundary as KKR raced off to 27/1 in the first two overs. However, the tides turned as the RCB bowlers stormed their way back into the game by delivering some exceptional middle overs. Yuzvendra Chahal got some good purchase from the surface and the KKR middle order was found out. Nitish Rana who came into the crease on the back of consecutive half-centuries had to depart in an attempt to keep in pace with the required rate. Dinesh Karthik also departed early and it seemed a huge task ahead of Eoin Morgan and Shakib Al Hasan. The ball was not coming onto the bat and batting became more and more difficult. Glenn maxwell’s introduction in the attack saw Morgan taking him apart for three sixes in two overs. However, the medium pacers which included the Hero of the match from the opening encounter, Harshal Patel continued their good work and it became an almost impossible job from thereon. Andre Russell came onto the crease and gave a few glimpses of his old self but the target proved to be way too big in the end. Russell’s refusal of singles in the penultimate over to Harbhajan Singh who can hit the long ball could be questioned and his fitness levels still look below-par. Earlier in the day RCB skipper, Virat Kohli won the toss and had no hesitations to bat first given the history of the ground in this tournament so far. Eoin Morgan missed a trick early by not giving an extra over to Chakravarthy against Maxwell when he was going through a dream spell. He had bamboozled Kohli and Patidar in his very first over to put RCB on the backfoot. With RCB being pushed to the corner, Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal resurrected the innings. While Padikkal could never get going and found stroke-making very difficult, Maxwell went along his merry way and smashed the KKR bowlers all around the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He looked like batting in a completely different pitch to what Padikkal was batting. Eventually, Padikkal’s dismissal actually worked in favour of RCB as it brought AB de Villiers in the crease. Like so many times AB de Villiers yet again showed why he is regarded as one of the finest batsmen of all time. If Maxwell made batting look ridiculously easy, ABD took it to a whole new level. On a pitch where stroke-making has never been easy, ABD literally toyed with the KKR bowlers and blazed his way to a knock of 76 of 34 deliveries which were studded with 9 fours and 3 sixes. His magical knock took RCB over the 200 mark and it eventually proved way too much. Captain’s Viewpoints Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan felt that the day totally belonged to the RCB batsmen as a score of 204 was always going to be a tall task to chase down especially on a Chennai surface. He also backed his decision to not give Chakravarthy that extra over when he had picked two wickets in his first over. Certainly RCB's day with the bat on a rocket-hot afternoon game. It [The Chennai pitch] certainly has stumped me, and I can't gauge the wicket. Everyone who batted on this wicket felt it played better but RCB played better. When asked if he could have given that extra over to Chakravarthy, Morgan said, “Probably not to be honest. Maxwell is a fine player, but to bowl, to AB you need to have that [option]. Yeah, yeah, we struggled to kick on and got us into a position where only Andre could do it. Different wicket [in Mumbai], dew, and we have been watching those games.” Meanwhile, RCB skipper Virat Kohli lauded his bowlers for a sensational effort. He reserved praise for Mohammed Siraj who bowled a magnificent penultimate over giving away just a single. He bowled the yorkers to perfection and Rusell didn’t manage to get under it on any occasion. “Especially Siraj's over to Russell [was good] - he has had some history against Russell. He's a different bowler after the Australia tour and he shut the game out. Harshal has so much clarity in the end and I think Jamieson also bowled well. That's the reason why we have three out of three,” Kohli said. To be fair, on a pitch like Chennai, you probably have a bit more space to make an error on the longer boundary. It has to be on the offside and not on side. Siraj did miss on the full-toss, but he has two men on the boundary. The execution was spot-on. Kohli felt that the pitch was not that easy to bat on and that it was just the sheer brilliance of Maxwell and ABD which got them over the 200 mark. “We played in Wankhede, Kolkata and Ahmedabad where the margin of error keeps getting smaller. Well, I said at the halfway mark we have 200 because of two genius innings back-to-back. Maxwell was outstanding and AB to follow. When he gets in with that kind of form and flow, it's impossible to stop him. We got 40 extra runs on that pitch which slowed down. Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today. There are areas we can work on. We're not getting ahead of ourselves and not getting over-excited,” Kohli added. Expert’s Opinion A popular face in world cricket, Harsha Bhogle felt that South Africa have to find a way to include AB de Villiers in the national squad for the T20 World Cup slated to be played in India later this year. Bhogle on the other hand criticised KKR's bowling approach after the Morgan-led side failed to use their resources well and were forced to bowl Harbhajan Singh in the penultimate over. Referring to Maxwell's breezy knock, Harsha Bhogle gave a witty reply to Housing. com saying that Maxwell has finally found his home in Bangalore. Renowned journalist Sambit Bal also lauded the likes of Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers for making batting look ridiculously easy during the middle and the death overs. Meanwhile, when Chakravarthy bagged the wicket of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar in his opening over, Bal said that it will be sweeter for Chakravarthy after not getting his opportunity in the national colours owing to his failure in the yo-yo test. Ayaz Menon lauded Mohammed Siraj for bowling an incredible penultimate over and had a special mention for ABD whose knock actually proved to be the difference between the two teams. Both teams were going on at the same rate but it was ABD’s heroics in the final few overs which resulted in RCB going past the 200-mark. Trying to make sense of Yuzvendra Chahal's exceptional bowling on the night where he picked two crucial wickets of Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik, Cricviz pointed out how successfully Chahal had used his variations on the night. Scribe Ben Jones predicted like many others that there was no way that ABD would be dropped from the SA national team who are scheduled to play the T20 WC in subcontinental conditions. KKR and Eoin Morgan after their loss tonight will surely be pondering if they are going to play their next match, scheduled to be hosted in Wankhede with the same combination. With all four overseas players having a torrid game against the RCB, KKR might look at aggressive changes for the next game. It is of high probability that in a small ground that has not aided much spin, Shakib Al Hasan finds his way out of the XI and Andre Russell is benched for the likes of Lockie Ferguson. KKR also have the option of getting in players like Tim Seifert who will act as a better batting cover for a team that have clearly been losing the plot in the middle overs. With their next game scheduled on 21 April, one can predict that if KKR do not fix their multitude of issues quickly, they might be looking at an early exit in the tournament.