Be it finishing the innings or providing rapid services behind the stumps, Dinesh Karthik never disappoints when he is there on the field. Critics may write him off but on Wednesday night he certainly showcased that he has enough gas left in the tank. His unbeaten 14-run knock off just 7 balls helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) earn first points in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 3 wickets.
RCB’s chase of 129 looked easy, given the firepower in their batting line-up. But the pursuit of first win became tricky as the team couldn’t contain the regular fall of wickets. Karthik was held back till he came at number seven and finished off the chase with a ravishing knock. With 7 needed off the last over, the 36-year-old smashed a six off the first ball and followed it up by a four to take the team home.
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RCB captain Faf du Plessis was moved by Karthik’s heroics against KKR. Speaking at the post-match show, the former hailed his teammate’s calm presence with the bat, saying that the wicketkeeper-batter is close to MS Dhoni in terms of ice cool temperament.
“In an ideal world, we would’ve liked to have won more convincingly but a win is a win. DK’s experience helped in the end, cool-calm, runs weren’t never really too far away. DK is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool,” said Du Plessis after the match.
The thrilling three-wicket win was also Bangalore’s first victory of the competition.
“Very happy (with the win). Close small margins games are very important at the start. Chasing a small score, we just tried to be positive and not leave it late but very good bowling from their (Kolkata) seamers,” observed Du Plessis.
Talking about the difference in conditions from the match on Sunday and now on Wednesday, Du Plessis remarked, “The ball swung a little earlier but today there was seam and bounce. Two three days ago, it was 200 and today it was 130. We would like to be more convincing. Just the experience. The runs were never a problem. We just needed to have wickets in hand.”
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Du Plessis signed off by saying that he gets help from other players in the team for making strategies.
“I rely on other people for help. We have great people in the camp. There is good communication in the group. The guys have been great. They have been supportive. They are coming to me with ideas,” he concluded.
(With Agency Inputs)
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